Bitcoin True Believers Still Waiting on Conference Fueled Rally

(Bloomberg) -- While the Lamborghinis turned out to be rented and the street protest a marketing gimmick for New York’s Blockchain Week, what’s really leaving some virtual currency enthusiasts disillusioned is the failure of Bitcoin to rally.

Tom Lee of Fundstrat Global Advisors, one of the industry’s best known analysts, noted prior to this week’s Consensus conference in New York that Bitcoin was relatively cheap and said it was poised to rally even more than in past years. After an initial gain on Monday, the biggest digital coin has slumped.

To be fair, Lee did include a caveat, saying that that talk of regulations for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could damp enthusiasm. While there were several panels on regulation at the conference, there were few fresh insights. Lee didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by phone or email Wednesday.

In the meantime, believers in the transformative powers of virtual money will just have to HODL -- one frenzied trader’s misspelled entreaty to hold onto the tokens during an earlier rout that’s become the mantra of Bitcoin purists.

--With assistance from Luke Kawa

To contact the reporter on this story: Janine Wolf in New York at jwolf71@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Dave Liedtka, Joanna Ossinger

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