(Updated October 2018) Ever since Satoshi Nakamoto published his famous paper detailing how Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), which is another nomenclature for Blockchain technology, can underpin a digital currency, the first of which would later be known as Bitcoin, the world has been taken by storm by this new form of settling financial transactions. The general sentiment alternated between fascination and awe on the one hand, and skepticism and incredulity on the other.
However, regardless of what the naysayers have to say, it is now apparent that Bitcoin is here to stay. In early December 2017, a Bitcoin’s price has surpassed 19,000 $, going well beyond plenty of predictions out there, and the underlying Blockchain technology has been used to create multiple forms of cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple. Despite Bitcoin’s price being extremely volatile over the past couple of years, this article will attempt to make a few Bitcoin price predictions for 2018, in the hopes of shedding a little light on this fascinating subject.
As of writing this article, the price of a single Bitcoin is $6,666.58 – 5% higher than a month ago, when a single Bitcoin was worth $6,332.57.
Related: Top 9 Bitcoin Trading Boots in 2018
Given the way Bitcoin’s price has skyrocketed over the past year, it is very difficult to discern the fundamentals that can help us figure out its inherent value. As a matter of fact, when I started researching this article, the price of a single Bitcoin was around $12,000, 2 days and half an article later, the price of the same Bitcoin stand at $17,500 $ and now when I am updating this article the price is $6,666. Furthermore, the way Bitcoin has been breaking through all previous expectations has rendered any attempt at using technical analysis to make Bitcoin price predictions for 2018 irrelevant. Nevertheless, there are a few factors that should affect the cryptocurrency’s price going forward:
1. Rate of adoption: Metcalfe’s law states that the value of a network increases as the number of users on said network increases, and this is somewhat applicable to Bitcoin as well.
2. Underlying technology: Although Bitcoin is built on Blockchain technology, it is somewhat inferior from a technological perspective to other cryptocurrencies built on the same platform.
3. The appearance of other competing cryptocurrencies: With more and more digital coins surfacing on the scene, the argument for using Bitcoin as a means of transactions is becoming less justifiable.
4. The use of futures: Creating a futures market for trading Bitcoins will have a profound effect on the young currency.
5. Regulation: Regulation is inevitable; however, its effects are uncertain, rendering any Bitcoin predictions suspect at best.
You might also like: Top 3 Ethereum Project Price Predictions for 2018
Bearing all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the top 4 Bitcoin price predictions for 2018:
Originally, the dominant Bitcoin price prediction was that Bitcoin would reach the $14,000 mark by the end of 2018. However, recent developments have blown that prediction out of the water, and optimists are hoping that Bitcoin will break through the $100,000 barrier within the next few months. In fact, some people, including CNBC’s Jim Cramer, are predicting that Bitcoin will go as far as shattering the million dollar threshold one day.
It’s difficult to say if it can really reach $100,000 per coin especially considering the fact that we are already in October 2018, I would say is impossible. Market capitalization should surpass 1 trillion USD just on BTC to reach $66,000 per coin, a 10x increase. Now the entire market cap is at $212 billions. Considering the BTC market cap was $170 billions almost a year ago, now is $115 billions and it was at $800 billions in January 2018 who knows what can happen.
As farfetched as these forecasts may seem at the outset, they aren’t completely implausible, seeing as Bitcoin’s price has been doing the impossible for the past few months. Additionally, upon taking a closer look, you will come to realize that these optimistic Bitcoin price predictions for 2018 may have some ground. For one thing, the growth of the number of daily transactions using Bitcoin has outpaced the currency’s price hike by a factor of 100! In other words, if the value of a Bitcoin has appreciated about 20 times in 2017, the concurrent amount of trades has increased about 2000 times. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of room for growth, which translates to a higher adoption rate and justifies the expected price increase.
It is very likely that Bitcoin usage will shift from a currency that we all use, to a tool used to store value. To begin with, owing to the major increase in Bitcoin price, investors have been using Bitcoin as a vehicle for their investments. Additionally, Bitcoin’s security features make it all the more attractive to be used as a proverbial vault rather than a transactional currency. Furthermore, Bitcoin has issues regarding scalability (scalability refers to adding more users to the network), and all attempts to address these issues have been met with resistance and failure.
This, in turn, means that the cost of each transaction has increased, and will keep going up so long as these issues are not addressed. Finally, the appearance of new cryptocurrencies that are better equipped to handle a large number of transactions in comparison to Bitcoin may force the incumbent currency to take a backseat.
The instant CME announced that it would be creating a futures contract for Bitcoin come mid-December, everybody started realizing the possible implications this might have. On the positive side of the equation, futures facilitate trading a certain asset, making it more accessible to investors and the general public alike. As a result, the rate of adoption of Bitcoin should increase commensurately. Furthermore, the cost of trading futures is quite low, whereas an increasing rate of adoption and a stagnant underlying technology have been driving the cost of transacting via Bitcoin up. Over and above, futures are pivotal in the process of price discovery, which means that they can help Bitcoin gain some price stability.
However, a futures market could also mean that there will be some downward pressure on the price of Bitcoin. This stands to reason as a futures market will make it easier for large institutional investors to short sell Bitcoin, and take bets on both sides of the table. It remains to be seen which effect will dominate the other.
Despite there being plenty of optimism surrounding Bitcoin, there are some who are concerned that this is all a speculative bubble. Firstly, the fact that Bitcoin’s underlying technology is antiquated when compared to its younger peers means that unless it experiences a radical advancement, Bitcoin won’t be able to enjoy its first mover advantage forever. Another point is that Metcalfe’s law concerning the size of networks won’t be as applicable should Bitcoin become a vehicle for value storage, regardless of the number of people who adopt this technology. Simply put, a network will become useless if all the members in it are hoarding the currency and not interacting with one another.
Another critical variable to put into the mix is regulation. This might come as a surprise to some, particularly due to the fact that cryptocurrencies are decentralized and impervious to direct manipulation, but governments still have the ability to regulate the usage of cryptocurrencies indirectly. The simplest case in point is how the price of Bitcoin plummeted when China banned all coin exchanges within its borders. It is true that Bitcoin recouped afterwards, but this doesn’t change the fact that, should the American government decide to intervene, they can influence Bitcoin’s price. For instance, through banning companies from accepting cryptocurrencies as payment or from importing blockchain related technology (such as Application Specific Integrated Circuits), governments can make cryptocurrencies nearly inaccessible, hence dropping their utility and their price. Some might argue that Bitcoin is a global currency, yet the fact that the U.S. is a very large player within this space means that the actions of the American government can have powerful ramifications for the entire space.
You might also like: EOS PRICE Predictions for 2018
The future of Bitcoin is anything but certain and making Bitcoin price predictions for 2018 is akin to trying to discern the weather three months from now. Nevertheless, given the way things have been going, it is reasonable to assume that, at least for the short term, the price of Bitcoin should continue to rise and reach new heights. Moreover, this year, Bitcoin has been witness to one of the nastiest feuds concerning its future, which ended in a sort of stalemate. As a result, without the necessary technological advancements, Bitcoin may end up being used as a safe haven for investors’ money in the short term and may become obsolete altogether in the long term. Over and above, the introduction of a Bitcoin futures market should be very interesting, and it is yet to be seen how this will affect the nascent technology. And, when it’s all said and done, it is worth bearing in mind that this hyperbolic increase may be a bubble that can pop any second.
With all that said, we are interested in knowing what you think. Do you think that the Bitcoin predictions for 2018 stating that the currency is bound to surpass $100,000 is on the money? Or, are you of the opinion that this is all a bubble? What about futures and their effects on the cryptocurrency space in general, do you think they’ll have a huge impact or not? Please let us know, leave a comment below, and feel free to ask us any questions you might have.
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
As a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, this site may earn from qualifying purchases. We may also earn commissions on purchases from other retail websites.
Super cryptocurrency is WAVES for year 2018 . Here is big chance now
Smart money is the Alt coins and token which will be used to pay for services. For instance DENT will be used to pay for phone data in any country via an app that is hitting the market Dec 28. That token is selling for 3 cents now but someday will sell for 5, 10, 20 dollars or more per token which will buy you 50 gigs of data.
Where can we buy those token and Alt coins ?
Thanks!
Yes, of course it is in a bubble, but that in itself doesn’t matter. Bitcoin is a speculation tool that serves the interests of those who can sell to the next buyer for a profit. It cannot keep going up indefinitely but there is no reason it should not rise to $100,000 this year and ten times that in two years. Eventually, it will collapse, but for now, there are far more people willing to buy it every day than there is an increase in the supply of coins which should position it for a tipping point to move sharply higher again soon. I don’t believe it has any real value, then again, in my opinion, neither does gold. Who is to say that ownership of a line of code is of any lesser value than a block of yellow metal in a safe? As far as I understand- neither can be forged (unless someone discovers the secret of alchemy), both can be stolen and both can be status symbols.
It’s also Awesome Price predictions, Do you have any Idea to Buy Bitcoin through Paypal, If you have any idea about It so please share with me.
Instead of buying bitcoin why not buy a machine to mine bitcoin
As someone mentioned above. DENT and POE are the Altcoins of the future. Certainly via Kucoin at the moment and if Binance lists DENT then that token will explode.
ETH and BTC will enjoy a decent year of growth, I feel 2019 will be a year that regulations might come to suck some of the chaos out.
Wow Thanks so much for very value content keep holding btc
LMAO
buy or sell bitcoins at furcoins, they are better with less rates on any transaction with them.
You can buy linden dollar via paypal and flip em to btc at virwox.com – lot of fees but its working fine!
The way forward for cryptocurrencies is to implement KYC data in every transaction. In that way governments and lawenforcement agencies can keep track on who is doing transactions.. Anonymity is not going to be accepted as a core value of a crypto, on the contrary… only those with sufficient trackable data in the blockchain or ledger will be allowed to exist…. The recent discoverry of childporn data in the BitCoin blockchain will make its value go down faster then many would wish for…. Cryptocurrencies like Saga and OneCoin where KYC is implemented have the future… or better: are allowed a future. I fear that John McAfee will have to get ready for eat his ….
I am a newbie hence this drop is a great chance for me ti by in at half price, its a no brainer as it reached 25k at one point.Crypto is here to stay and Bitcoin is mother coin, its never going to go away so many bitcoin arms are ushered in and KFC, Boost juice janine ellis stood in Sydney business seminar and told the group they are introducing bitcoin next year in their shops and said McDonald is the same, they want to be the first in the market and have this month offered 4 bitcoins as a prize for their weekly raffles. I believe bitcoins will go up to 50k by the end of the year as more people adopt. For once, bitcoin seminars are held in sydney and i am sure the rest of the world. i am computer illiterate and even I can do it even though I found currency trading impossible to learn. If I can do it so can everybody.
Korean house sales amount goes to bitcoin market Transfer of funds due to transfer tax imposed on April 2, 2018
Bitcoin Mining Explained.
Bitcoin high for 2018 will be somewhere between 47000 and 87000 USD for one Bitcoin.
We appreciate your contribution, but this doesn’t sound very realistic as for this to happen Bitcoin’s market cap should be about 5 times higher than the current TOTAL market cap.
Actually it is very realistic. How many times has total market cap increased in 2017? You know very well that it was more then 20 times when we consider beginning of the year and the high of the year. Most people really do not understand that it was just a beginning and that we are still in bull market. We were whole 2018 in yearly bull market and from the months point of view we have also not enterde bear market – we just had a correction. As per weekly view – there was an correction and then sideways. So only in daily frame we were for few periods in bear market. People do not understand that the rise in 2017 were shock for many and then many bad news for Bitcoin came. Also many people were shorting this for some reasons. So the correction was very big. But the market is a complicated living creature. To be able fairly predict you have to apply many skills from maths, physics, economy and psychology, and you have to have a gift. Now ETFs are going to be aproved. Historically this means price will rise, actually big rise. Look what ETF has done with gold. Current market capitalisation of Bitcoin is around 140 billions. That is very small. Total market capitalisation of stock market is around 65 trillions. Currently good news are comming regarding Bitcoin/ Lightning network make Bitcoin very good also for payment (actually even now when you pay abroad higher amount Bitcoin is much more effective and you pay less for this than in bank). With Bitcoin growing over years incredibly it si much more better device for storing your finances then the Fiat or Gold. You do not need to have most of your money in bank. That is very old fashioned. Bitcoin is on incredible rise and it will devour all other cryptocurencies as they are no competion for Bitcoin. So with coming stock market crash. I believe that in 2020 price will reach at least 500000 it may well be 1 million. Please note that market capitalisation for Bitcoin when price for one BTC will be 800000 USD will be around 14 trillions. Current stock market is overvalued at least by one third. There will be big market crash starting from November 2018 till 2020. Some may tell that it has even started though there is of course no crash yet, just forming. So I would not be really surprised by BTC being for 1 million in 2020. That is very realistic. Actually I consider any prediction for Bitcoin which goes below 25 000 at the end of 2018 as being completely unrealistic. anything below 50 000 is conservative. Above 50000 bullish. Above 100 000 unrealistic. So let’s see in December and then in 2020 who was right. I am sure I am.
@PredictionMaster I need to say that I was really impressed when I saw your comment. I even did a google search to see if you placed it somewhere else.
I would like to start by saying a big THANK YOU for placing it! You are right in many aspects but I am not sure if people will invest that much in cryptocurrency. Lets not forget that when you say 65 trillions you include everything everything that has been invested in the last 30 years, all the hedge funds, all the private investors, equity companies and so on. It will take some time until hedge funds will decide to massively invest in crypto.
You know, the companies in the stock market bring some real value, something that you can feel, Tesla is making cars, Coca Cola is selling Cokes, Disney is producing high profitable movies, Apple is producing the phones and computers that we all use and so on. They have millions of employees. But what does Bitcoin bring to the table right now? I consider it is more like gold. How about Ethereum? Or Ripple? Eos and so many other? I understand that in theory they will change the world but to reach a market cap of 14 trillions they must really CHANGE it! They must be adopted by big banks and used by other institutions. If the blockchain will start being really used at a large scale YES I agree, investors will come. But it still looks far. Lets see, fingers crossed.
Thanks for your comment. 65 trillions that is only stock market. There is also gold and then bank money. So reaching market cap around 15 trillions does not seem to me be a big deal. Yes Bitcoin is digital gold. It will be mainly used as store value, that you will be (and in many cases you already are) able to pay with it will be just one of many pluses when comparing to gold. How much you would have to pay to the bank to store gold worth of million? Quite lot. And what to speak about bigger amounts. Do not underestimate the power of the crowd. People who invested in stock from 2009 till 2016 they have got already good profits usually. The stock market simply cannot grow now more. So when Bitcoin will start another big rally (it actually started but for now it is still just beginning), what do you think people will do when they will see price of Bitcoin racketing high and price of stock market falling down? They will of course want to be part of rally and will join to Bitcoin.History is never repeting, history is evolving. Now everything is faster and any change comes into efect much more faster. I would personally bet on Bitcoin reaching 1 million in 2020. Seems to me very probable. Bitcoin bring value. It is value of blockchain. It is a big value. Bitcoin does not to be adopted by banks. It will not be replacing fiat. At least not any time soon and maybe never, and it does not need to replace it. I think fiat will be here. Bitcoin is tolerated and that is enough for it. By the way many banks are already interested and they are either crypto friendly or have some Bitcoins in store. There is actually nothing else to do now. Just wait. I see already everything settled. When I count all possibilities I do not see any other possibility. I would not write it if I would not have been sure about it. Bitcoin does not need to be used for payment at a large scale. It will be here mainly as store value and many people who will buy at right time will earn big money as many already have.
I have decided to explain little bit more my view on Bitcoin and the possibilities of its growth. As I have already mentioned current stock market is extremely overvalued (around 30%) so correction is coming. I think that longterm high from January 2018 for Dow and DAX will not be broken and in August we will reach midterm high. As per Nasdaq and SP there can be long term high in August as well. If the whole stock market will loose till the end of 2018 just around 2% (which is very small decline actually – it will be more) then it is like at least 1,2 trillion USD. Bitcoin at 7000 has market cap around 120 billions. So please see that it is very much possible for Bitcoin reach 70000 or more as the stock market correction will be more then 2% and there will be also money from institutions coming to Bitcoin. Growth can be tremendous. Please note that stock market will decline quite probably around 10% from August till December. Yes not all money will come to Bitcoin, but a lot of will. Noone can know where high can be. In extremely positive bullish outlook we can even speak about 250000. No one can know for now. But to believe that we will go above 50000 is very justified. Would not be much surprised if it would go even above 100000. Though I have previously considered this unlikely,but now I see quite big probability of it as I have more counted with how stock market is going to decline. Of course I am very much aware how it sounds, but just can’t help myself. I see it there. Now is really very good time to buy if you have not bought before for lower price.If by 2020 stock market will decline by 30% which is very likely, then I believe (together with all other money coming to Bitcoin) that market cap around 24 trillions USD is very likely. So it means Bitcoin around 1,4 millions USD.
So it seems that Nasdaq and SP will not go above their all time high in August, so the fall of stock market already started.
Hey, it looks like you were pretty right about all this. Can you please send us a message at info@investingpr.com? We look forward to hearing from you. Thanks!
[…] 2018 comes to a close, analysts and optimists from Hong Kong to California have been predicting an impending crypto market bull run that will see Bitcoin rally to anywhere between $20,000 to […]