‘Bitcoin Could Hit Between $50,000 and $100,000 This Year,’ Says Saxo Bank Analyst

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by Alexandra Sayapina · 3 min read
‘Bitcoin Could Hit Between $50,000 and $100,000 This Year,’ Says Saxo Bank Analyst
Photo: Dave Strom / Flickr

Kay Van-Petersen believes that 2018 can bring Bitcoin a significant rise and expresses support for the future of Ethereum.

Today the cryptocurrencies face a tough time: Bitcoin fell below $12,000 level – the lowest price since December 5. That is not the only currency that loses its positions. All the Bitcoin rivals like Ethereum or Ripple are also in the period of falling prices. However, some experts stay extremely optimistic.

Kay Van-Petersen, an analyst at Saxo Bank, is an important person in the world of cryptocurrencies. He is one of the men who predicted the rise of Bitcoin: Van-Petersen suggested that its price would reach the $2,000 level in 2017. He made this prediction in December 2016, when the currency was traded below $900. It was a long shot, but he turned out to be absolutely right.

This Tuesday Van-Petersen made a new prediction: he expects Bitcoin to reach between $50,000 and $100,000 in 2018. The Saxo Bank analyst said: “First off, you could argue we have had a proper correction in bitcoin, it has had a 50 percent pull back at one point, which is healthy. But we have still not seen the full effect of the futures contracts.”

Bitcoin futures contracts were launched in December 2017. Even though trading volumes are still light, the potential of this move is still to be unleashed. It did not allow the bitcoin market, which stays small compared with significant asset classes, to play in the majors.

However, Van-Petersen believes that bitcoin futures contracts would attract more institutions in 2018. The growth of interest is not likely to be exponential, but even the slow pace of development can help in legalizing the whole cryptocurrencies market.

Some critics draw attention to the incredible high of Van-Petersen’s forecast against a background of the unsustainable bitcoin trading in the beginning of the year. The recent fall of price has a lot to deal with the markets of South Korea and China.

These countries have always played important role in the well-being of Bitcoin. Recently South Korea announced a potential bill to ban cryptocurrency trading. China did not remain on the sidelines: the central bank shared its plans on banning any activity of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. This news contributed mightily to the fall of the cryptocurrency market.

Nevertheless, Van-Petersen does not see this crisis as the beginning of the end. He rightly asserts that the situation is typical for the nature of Bitcoin. It tends to be traded around a certain price for some period of time and then makes a significant boost – or “re-rates” as the analyst calls it.

One more important topic of the Saxo Bank analyst’s prediction is the rise of Ethereum. This cryptocurrency gained lots of support in 2017 and has really high expectations to meet in 2018. Van-Petersen has powerful arguments to support his views: “Ethereum came after bitcoin, it has a more unified leadership than bitcoin. They seem to be a bit further along the way in regards to forming the solution to scaling issues. And you can see transactions on their side eclipses transactions across other cryptos.”

As is usually the case, the views of different investors, analysts and other experts on the future of the cryptocurrency market divided. The crypto industry attracts more and more fans, while traditional investors seem to be skeptical. The prediction of Kay Van-Petersen goes far. However, the one he made in the end of 2016 was risky as well – and it turned out to be correct.

Bitcoin News, Cryptocurrency News, Editor's Choice, News
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