EXPERTS REVISE CRYPTOCURRENCY PREDICTIONS

By Dmitriy

Several cryptocurrency experts have predicted that Bitcoin will double in value by the end of the year despite its continued price stagnation for the past couple of months. Quite recently, Forbes’ Bitcoin Price Estimator downed the year-end estimate from $15,000 to $12,500 due to the loss in transaction volume.

Bitcoin’s price has fallen from more than $19,000 in December, to the recent value of below $7,700, and the last six months have seen anxiety and panic all over the market.

The seizure of bitcoins in different legal cases, such as MtGox, which were then sold on exchanges, coupled with uncertain regulation, has been presumed as the reason for the downfall of the price of BTC.

The price may be stabilizing for now but in the short term, it is expected to remain stagnant. “I believe bitcoin’s price will continue to fluctuate between $6,500 and $8,500 in the coming weeks,” said David Hanson, blockchain expert and CEO of gaming platform Ultra.

“In the medium-to-long term, bitcoin’s value should go up, as big institutions enter the crypto space in a bid to gain first-mover advantage, further legitimising the market.”

The assumption that major institutions will provide a boost to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is shared by other experts in the market, who believe bitcoin will finally break back above $10,000 in the coming months.

“As the regulatory landscape clears up we can expect far more investors, including big-ticket institutions, to make their first cryptocurrency investments,” said Iqbal Gandham, the UK managing director of the investment platform eToro

“For the first few months of this year, the crypto industry has been jogging along at a relatively slow pace, waiting for the opportunity to stretch into a sprint. This may just be that moment.”

The price predictions for Bitcoin were very positive at the beginning of the year, based on the price explosion at the end of 2017. Celebrated investor Tim Draper said Bitcoin could hit $250,000 by 2022.

In January, a panel of cryptocurrency experts compiled by price comparison site Finder forecast that bitcoin would hit $33,000 by the end of this year. A newly revised prediction released this week that brought down the figure to $14,638.

The Cryptocurrency Predictions Survey ranked EOS  out of all other ones as the digital currency with the most potential, with price gains of more than 200% forecast by the end of the year.

Blockchain expert David Hanson, said EOS could attract the most interest from investors in the second half of 2018.

Mr Hanson said: “Looking at cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin, EOS is gaining a lot of attention lately as it’s unique and the scale at which it handles its ecosystem has never been seen before, so it would be worth keeping an eye on.”