2018 is shaping up to be an interesting year for cryptocurrencies – the year started with massive losses straight out of the gate. Bitcoin for instance, crashed from its $20,000 in December 2017 to a $5,900 low by February 6. Unfortunately, when Bitcoin stumbles, the rest of the cryptocurrency industry tend to crash land; hence, , more than $550 billion has been wiped off the market capitalization of the cryptocurrency industry in the first six weeks of 2018.

Granted, the weakness in Bitcoin is triggering weakness in the general cryptocurrency industry; nonetheless, some coins are faring better than others are. Neo (NEO) is one of such interesting coins that seem to be better positioned to weather the storms pillaging the cryptocurrency markets this year.

NEO is technically immune from fickle market sentiments

The second reason to be optimistic about the prospects of NEO in 2018 is that the cryptocurrency is immune to the fickle interest of speculators. Much of the gains recorded in cryptocurrency in 2018 and the subsequent explosion of altcoins can be traced to hype. The meteoric rise of Bitcoin, the fanatical skepticism of traditional financial institutions, and capital flight from conservative assets into crypto all helped to support the bullish case cryptocurrencies.

However, cryptocurrency traders and investors are currently seeing the other side of the coin (in the real sense of the word) as a number of factors now exert downward pressure on the markets. For one, the clamor for increased regulation has served as a catalyst for critics to come out in full force to denounce cryptocurrency.

The fact that South Korea is clamping down on crypto exchanges and China’s tough stance against ICOs and exchanges had also caused a crazy selloff among speculators who bought cryptocurrency because they hoped to make money and not because they believed in the long-term functionality cryptocurrency.

Neo could be the poster boy for regulated cryptocurrency

Interestingly, NEO coin is fundamentally different from most of the coins in the market in that it is not at risk of regulatory headwinds. For one, NEO is doing its best effort to stay compliant with existing and new regulations for cryptocurrency. The NEO Council, made up of co-founders and some employees gives NEO a ‘centralized’ front saddled with the responsibility of making decisions for the networks as opposed to the fragmented decentralized nature of other cryptocurrencies.

Secondly, NEO is working on surmounting another regulatory hurdle by issuing digital identities based on the PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) X.509 standard. Regulators have consistently taken issues with the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency and the NEO council understands that the best way to be on the “good” side of the law is to remove the anonymity layer without making customer ID vulnerable to unauthorized parties.

NEO is working on issuing digital identities compliant with the PKI standard to its users while securing the ID information with blockchain technology. The NEO Council also wants Bookkeepers to have digital identities backed by their real names and verifiable identifying information. Hence, it would be easy to take legal actions against them in the event of mismanagement of funds in order to protect cryptocurrency investors from disappearing exchanges.

NEO is strategically positioned for the long game

Blockchain technology is here to stay and there’s not much that critics, regulators, and governments can do about it. Of course, the government can take steps to clampdown on cryptocurrencies, but the underlying blockchain technology is unstoppable. Neo understands that blockchain technology will eventually cause the world to transition into a smart economy.

In a smart economy, assets will be digitized, ownership records will be stored on the blockchain, cryptocurrencies will be the means of exchange, and smart contracts will facilitate transactions. Neo is creating the foundation for the smart economy of the future by making massive investments in getting its platform compliant with regulation for verifiable identity in digital form.