Galaxy Digital's Novogratz: Crypto is not going away despite 'grand washout' in 2022

Following news of more job cuts at Coinbase ( COIN ), Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novogratz gave a mixed forecast for the cryptocurrency industry on Tuesday, saying "the outlook for crypto is not horrible but it's not great." "2022 was a grand washout for growth stocks and crypto," Novogratz told CNBC, but added that "crypto is not going away." To support his argument, the high-profile cryptocurrency investor highlighted the fact that the price of Ethereum ( ETH-USD ) and Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) have increased more than 6% and nearly 3% past five days, respectively, indicating some tentative moves back into the space. This came after the crypto industry was hammered in 2022 by high costs and low revenues, regulatory headwinds and a chain of macro events, he said. While warning that "there are still overhangs" in the market, especially uncertainty surrounding DCG, Genesis and Gemini "that will play out in the next quarter," Novogratz also suggested that the troubles over the past 12 months have also clarified conditions. "It is a clean market right now," he said. Asked about the impacts of Genesis and Gemini bankruptcy, Novogratz said that to survive in 2023 transition period, Galaxy Digital ( OTCPK:BRPHF ) is leaning wherever possible, either through recently bought mining facility in Texas or acquisition of self-custody company GK8 in Israel, to "catch the uptick" in the crypto market. Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) suffered a massive decline of more than 60% in 2022, hurt in recent months by the fall of crypto exchange FTX. In Tuesday's trading, Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) was sitting around $17.3K, +0.3% on the day. Ethereum ( ETH-USD ) was at $1,334, -0.10%. For a positive take on Bitcoin, see why Seeking Alpha contributor The Digital Trend says, "Bitcoin will perform well in a disinflationary environment and could also perform better than stocks when the economy enters a recession ."