In a year marked by the return of volatility, there have been few constants. Few forces have been more dependable than bitcoin’s ever-increasing price. The flagship cryptocurrency has grown more than 1,500 percent in 2017 and shows no sign of slowing down.
In the last three weeks alone, the price of bitcoin has risen from around $13,000 to an all-time high above $19,000 on the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI).
But this rally is just the beginning of a multi-year bull market that could see bitcoin explode past $25,000 by the end of 2018, according to Brian Kelly – a Wall Street analyst who runs his own digital currency fund.
“We are in a bull market and we’ve got confirmation,” Kelly said during an interview on CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Wednesday evening. “There are very few assets that can do five digits in under 10 years.”
The bitcoin price has risen more than 13-fold so far this year, surging from less than $1,000 at the start of 2017 to a record high of $13,412.44 on Thursday. The growing popularity of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies among investors is backed by a continued rise in global cryptocurrency market cap, which surged from $17.7 billion at the beginning of the year to around $500 billion on Wednesday. More recently, it lost some momentum to drop below $400 billion due to a broader market selloff that saw the bitcoin price fall by more than 15 percent over the past two days. Nevertheless, there is no denying that cryptocurrencies have enjoyed an unprecedented rally this year.
With investors becoming increasingly optimistic about the prospects of bitcoin and other digital currencies in 2018, there are already several predictions circulating around suggesting that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could hit new highs next year. For example, Ronnie Moas, founder of Standpoint Research, recently predicted that bitcoin could hit $20,000 in 2018 while Llew Claasen, executive director at Bitcoin Foundation said that he believes the value of bitcoin will most likely double or triple next year but is unlikely to reach “ludicrous mode” like it did earlier this month. There is also Tom Lee who said that
Bitcoin has been on an absolute tear since it started rallying in the spring of 2017. After hitting a record high of over $19,000 a coin at the end of December, it has now all but retraced its gains.
In the last few weeks, Bitcoin has bounced off $6,000 to as high as $11,200 and is currently trading at around $9,700. While this is still a massive gain from where Bitcoin was this time last year (around $1,000), the asset’s price action has taken a bit of a pause as of late.
But if you look at its performance over the past three years, there are some clear patterns that emerge which could mean Bitcoin is not done yet and could be set for another major rally in 2018. Here’s what investors need to know.
It’s an exciting time to be invested in Bitcoin. The last few weeks have seen rapid declines in the price of Bitcoin, and for many people, it’s getting tempting to invest in the world’s top cryptocurrency.
There are a lot of things that work against Bitcoin. One of those is the fact that many people are not sure whether or not the currency is going to survive. But there’s one thing that keeps coming up, and it’s something that almost everyone agrees on: Bitcoin has a bright future ahead of it.
Many experts believe that this is because Blockchain, the technology that underpins Bitcoin, is on the verge of becoming mainstream. This could lead to a big increase in demand for Bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies.
Another reason why some feel that Bitcoin will reach $25,000 in 2018 is due to the fact that there are a number of countries around the world where cryptocurrencies are illegal. But those same countries are also starting to see their currencies being devalued and may start looking for another alternative to fiat currencies such as USD or EUR. This could lead them towards cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum which offer stability and security.
Over the past several months, many prominent investors and analysts have weighed in on whether or not Bitcoin (BTC) is a bubble. However, according to a new report by Saxo Bank, Bitcoin could hit $25,000 by the end of 2018.
Saxo Bank recently made headlines after correctly predicting that Bitcoin would reach $2,000 for the first time in 2017. In its “Outrageous Predictions” report for 2018, Saxo Bank speculates that BTC could soar to as high as $25,000 by the end of next year.
The report argues that a combination of increased regulation, institutional investment and geopolitical turmoil will fuel a surge in BTC prices. Saxo Bank also claims that mainstream adoption of Bitcoin has paved the way for price hikes.
“Following its meteoric rise in 2017, Bitcoin will become the best-performing asset class for the second year in a row,” the report states.
Bitcoin is currently trading at just over $17,500 on Coinbase and at roughly $16,600 on Bitstamp. The digital currency’s price surged past $16,000 and $17,000 on Thursday and Friday respectively. Bitcoin’s market cap now stands at roughly $290 billion.
As the end of 2017 approaches, it’s time to look at the year ahead in Bitcoin. What do we have in store for 2018? Well, if this year has been a rollercoaster ride with ups and downs, then next year promises to be even more exciting.
First off, it’s important to note that 2017 was the year Bitcoin went mainstream. Large institutions like Goldman Sachs and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) are investing heavily in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Even Uber plans to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment!
Now that all eyes are on Bitcoin, what can we expect in 2018? We can expect a lot of growth and a lot of volatility. There are many factors that could influence Bitcoin’s price next year. Let’s take a look at some of them:
Regulatory Issues
The biggest factor influencing Bitcoin’s price next year is government regulation. Currently, China is taking steps to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges in the country. In fact, earlier this month China announced plans to ban cryptocurrency exchanges by banning ICOs. The Chinese government’s concern over cryptocurrency has caused Bitcoin’s price to drop precipitously on several occasions this year.
However, China isn’t the only country taking steps to regulate cryptocurrencies. Russia recently announced plans to regulate cryptocurrencies as
There are a lot of reasons why the price of bitcoin should have collapsed in 2017.
Political headwinds, increased regulatory scrutiny, higher fees, and multiple forked currencies should all have driven prices down.
Instead, we saw the opposite happen. Bitcoin has increased in value by about 800% at the time of this writing.
The price of bitcoin continued to rise in 2017 despite a variety of challenges and the emergence of competing cryptocurrencies. The market value of all cryptocurrencies combined reached a new high above $300 billion on Dec. 21, according to CoinMarketCap.com.
The rapid increase in the market value of cryptocurrencies has led some investors to worry that a bubble may be forming in the space. But there are also several reasons why bitcoin could continue to generate healthy returns next year as well — even if it doesn’t post gains on par with those achieved during 2017.
The bitcoin network’s computing power has grown significantly over the years, and it’s now nearly impossible for an individual computer to mine coins on its own, leading many users to join mining pools or purchase specialized hardware that is designed specifically for mining bitcoin (aka bitcoin ASICs).
This has created barriers to entry for new miners, but it hasn’t necessarily slowed down adopted innovation within the ecosystem…