Crypto investors have just endured one of the toughest quarters on record. Despite a recent rebound, fears of overregulation, a clampdown on mining in China and environmental concerns have all contributed to negative sentiment in the sector.

Most CoinDesk 20 assets, which constitute about 99% of the crypto market by verifiable volume, finished the second quarter with negative returns. The CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX) fell 40.4%, its third worst quarter in terms of performance since its inception. Conversely, the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX) ended the quarter up 18.7%. While bitcoin has recovered some of its losses, trading at around $40,500 at press time, the level of optimism is far from what it was at the start of the second quarter.

There may be reasons, however, to expect more positive news ahead. CoinDesk spoke to several industry figures and asked them what they thought about the outlook for crypto markets given some of these recent headwinds.

Here is what they said:

UPDATE (Aug. 2, 14:09 UTC): Updates description of Mode.