Top 5 Bitcoin Price Predictions for 2018 Falling Flat

By Prashant Jha

The phenomenal rise of Bitcoin in 2017 made many people go overboard with their predictions for 2018. The figures quoted by these people are not just off by few units but differs majorly looking at the current bearish trend in the market. We will look at the top 10 Bitcoin price predictions and how far they have missed the mark.

Bitcoin took the whole world by surprise last year when the prices soared to $20,000; this started a chain of events where people from different walk of life came up and predicted the costs to escalate further in 2018. However, little did they know, an entity without a real-world application would slump to new lows in 2018.

The current trend has even sparked the never dying rumors about Bitcoin being a bubble which would inevitably burst in coming years. The only thing that could save it from being just a trading unit is if its stakeholders find ways to improve the technology well enough so that it can see a real-world use.

Let us look at some of the most optimistic price predictions made and how they fair regarding the current state of things.

1. Tom Lee

The man behind Fundstrat has been bold with his predictions; he first made his prediction in May when Bitcoin was trading at $8,000. He predicted the prices would touch $25,000 at the end of the year. The reasons put forward by Lee were,

• Its Mining cost generally governs Bitcoin prices.
• Multiple ideas and technologies are waiting from authorities to be regulated, which would surely generate interest and subsequently increase its price.
• Bitcoin whenever moves, it rushes.

However, when the Bearish trend in mid-November started to wipe its chances of even reaching the $10 K mark, Lee revised his predictions and claimed, Bitcoin would touch $15,000 at the end of the year.

Bitcoin is currently trading at a five year low of under $4,000; we would be surprised if it touches the $10 K mark.

2. Mike Novogratz

The man with the most outlandish predictions, Mike first came up with the figure of $40,000 at the start of 2018, double that of its 2017’s highest mark. But, it seems the man has learned that in this day and age, people do not forget many things, so he came up with a much relative and believable mark of $9,000 at the end of the year. Well, we would suggest his followers keep their fingers crossed and hope the Bulls take over in time to make this prediction sound reasonable.

3. John Pfeffer

A trading veteran based in London sees excellent potential in Bitcoin and even believed that it has the potential to replace gold as the mainstream form of investment as the stored value. He predicted an amount of $75,000 wouldn’t be unreasonable.

4. Tim Draper

Tim Draper commands great respect in the investment field, having proved his mettle by successfully investing in Skype, Tesla, and Bitcoin. He even has a successful track record in predicting the future of new technologies. He predicted the price of Bitcoin to reach $10,000 by 2017, in 2014 itself.

However, his price prediction for 2018 seems to be proven wrong as he predicted the price at $250,000 valuation by 2022-23. He even reconfirmed the projections recently.

5. Changpeng Zhao (CZ)

The man behind the Binance exchange tops the list of absurd predictions made regarding the valuation of bitcoin. In 2017, Binance became one of the most successful crypto exchanges in the market, and that might have triggered the price prediction race from who and who of the industry. After a very successful 2017, thanks to the sudden boom in Bitcoin prices, CZ expected strong returns and profits are amounting in billions for the year 2018.

Not so long ago in September when the bitcoin was trading at $7,000 mark, CZ claimed the prices would increase exponentially towards the end of the year. He predicted a $200 trillion market cap for the crypto industry in the long run. Currently, the total market cap of the cryptocurrencies is at an all-time low of $120.73 Billion. Every crypto frantic would be hoping the words of CZ comes true.

Final Thoughts

Price predictions are the part of the trading market culture, most of the projections for BTC were made due to its sudden rise. The price predictions now seem way off the mark as the market has suffered constant bearish trend from the past couple of weeks.

Until and unless these cryptocurrencies find real-world use, the prices are not going to matter. The pioneers and people behind cryptocurrency make money out of these hypes, as the prices are volatile. So instead of running behind price predictions, people need to ask better questions like, ‘By which year I would be able to buy grocery from the store nearby using bitcoin?’