By
Steve Muchoki
April 18th, 2024
Bitcoin recovers after several days of great volatility – the price now slightly differs from its opening quote. Experts’ views on what to wait in 2018 are still controversial.
The world’s best known and highest-valued cryptoasset, Bitcoin, is showing the signs of recovery after big Christmas trading, which has affected all the major digital currencies from Litecoin to Ethereum. Despite this crash, the market value of cryptocurrencies demonstrates the climb towards its highest ever.
After the recent crash below $12,000, Bitcoin price begins to stabilize, raising at more than $4,000. At press time, it is estimated at $15,492 according to CoinMarketCap, which doesn’t differ much from its opening quote.
Some skeptics find the reason of the recent selloff in bitcoin’s inherent volatility, describing it as some kind of a tremor before the “bubble” bursts. On Monday, Business Insider’s Jim Edwards highlighted a note from investment analysts at Morgan Stanley suggesting that Bitcoin may soon have a practical value of nothing.
But many experts still hold on to a totally different point of view. As Hussein Sayed, the chief market strategist at FXTM, commented the situation:
“Although the recent plunge frightened many bitcoin fans, when looking at the relatively short history of bitcoin trading, the price action seems just normal. During 2017 the cryptocurrency crashed by 30% or more six times. Every fall was followed by huge price appreciation until it peaked on 17 December.”
During 2017, Bitcoin has raised phenomenally starting from $1000 at the beginning of the year, hitting the all-time-high of over $20,000 and with current price of more than $15,000. In spite of crypto world’s risky environment, many Bitcoin investors feel comfortable in it, gaining millions of dollars on Bitcoin trading without even a slight desire to stop. Twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss are a good example of such a success. The brothers have never lost their faith in a fragmental patchwork of digital currencies.
The crypto mania, started from Bitcoin, has already spread to other cryptoassets. The market value of digital assets is steadily climbing towards last week’s record of about $648 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin now only accounts for about 45% of that value. A year ago it was closer to 90%, followed by Ethereum at 13%, and Bitcoin cash, an offshoot, at 8%.
According to Julian Hosp, cryptocurrency entrepreneur and the founder of TenX, the price of Bitcoin will likely move beyond $60,000 by the end of 2018. He is sure that the bitcoin’s rapid rise is still under way, but there is a catch:
“I think we’re going to see bitcoin hitting the $60,000 mark, but I also think we’re going to see bitcoin hitting the $5,000 mark. The question is though, ‘Which one is it going to hit first?’”
Despite all the controversial views and lots of critics, 2017 happened to be more than just successful for digital currencies, especially Bitcoin. Whether the positive dynamics continue in 2018, we will see soon.