The Good Old Days
Since the beginning, Bitcoin (BTC) has taken us all on an emotional roller coaster ride. Rising dramatically back in late December 2017, Bitcoin reached its peak at $19,500. After the most recent frenzy, everyone has been hoping for BTC to recover. Unfortunately, things only got worse. At the moment, BTC is floating around $4,000, and no one can tell for sure if the price might dip further.
Throughout the past eleven months, BTC has dropped from $19,500 to $3,000 – a plunge of nearly 85 percent.
There are many BTC price predictions going on amongst crypto, technology, and financial analysts. Amidst a more bearish market, most of them still believe it won’t correct anytime soon. The price is expected to need a lot of time and effort for it to regain its all-time high – but it might need as long as the next 2 decades.
Experts Air on the Conservative Side
CNBC’s Robert Sluymer pointed out a series of higher lows that BTC might hold at if the market remains bearish.
“Bitcoin is about to challenge its downtrend”, he said. If BTC breaks through the current downtrend, it could turn to the upside thereafter.
The CEO of China’s first Bitcoin exchange, Bobby Lee, said at London Blockchain Week that BTC will surpass $1 million – but in 20 years’ time – a view that Smartereum considers “overboard”. American Olympian and entrepreneur Cameron Winklevoss, however, shares a somewhat similar view to Lee’s. Winklevoss says he can see BTC going up by 40%, though in 10 to 20 years.
According to Boris Hristov, a Bitcoin and technology researcher, BTC can only regain its legitimacy if institutional investors enter the market, but they may still not be keen to take on the risks from crypto trading. He said:
“Some potential institutional candidates are Marco funds CTAs, multi-strategy funds and alternative strategies have about $600 billion AuM. Commodity assets alone that are held by hedge funds were $300 billion as at 2017. It makes up for 10% of the AuM. BTC may fall into this bucket. Macro funds are potential institutional candidates. However, the current circumstances are bleak.”
So, to Bitcoin or not Bitcoin?
According to Smartereum, most say price fluctuations are normal and will not affect the long term outlook. However, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will for now be greatly affected by even small announcements or predictions from governments or crypto agencies.
Although the current reality seems gloomy, the heights achieved last year came with similar corrections along the way. 2019 has only just begun, and experts might usually prefer to make predictions over a longer period.
In addition, rather that an actual currency being compared to gold and other assets, Bitcoin is seen more as a store of value by most financial experts.
Needless to say, crypto investments are full of opportunities, and, of course, risks. Should one invest further in Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies is still a topic of discussion. Hence, while Bitcoin could be worth a lot more in the future, it might be advisable to invest just as much as one can afford to lose.
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