Today is Sunday December 31, 2017
Bitcoin reached a high today of $14,377.40, and a low of $12,755.60. The price was $13,828.20 by end of day, a 5.01% gain over 24 hours.
In the never-ending goal of big media to bring the price of Bitcoin down (for reasons I can only assume), Hacked.com decided to take a more level-headed direction today in their article titled, Bitcoin 2018: Prepare for Major Value Crashes.
This article was at the top of my daily search for "bitcoin futures news." Although the title is mild FUD, the article itself isn't overly negative.
I can't say that I disagree with the presented points either.
In a previous blog I posted here on Steemit called Where I see Bitcoin Trending For New Years and in 2018, I made the case that Bitcoin's current 7 month continuation trend couldn't last forever, simply because the slope was too steep for long-term growth, with Bitcoin reaching 32,000,000 USD per coin by 2020 if the trend didn't slow down. I also made the point that this would lead to more volatility in 2018.
In 2018 I expect to see a continuation trend with a little more sanity, but prone to more volatility. If Bitcoin does not settle down into a more levelled off trend in 2018, expect some blood baths and lots of Bitcoin obituaries.
The article at hacked.com follows the same reasoning, where Nick Colas said:
Bottom line: bitcoin can rally to $22,000 and still be reasonably priced, or plummet to $6,500 and also be correctly valued... we expect to see bitcoin trade for both prices in 2018.”
Trading strategist Todd Horwitz had the following to add:
Bitcoin is in the process of becoming a “great alternative currency,” but getting there will be a long and painful process. For holders of the digital currency, this means more “dramatic falls” in value... “I would think that the bitcoin price is a bit of a bubble and I think you will see some more dramatic falls. But anytime we see dramatic falls you also see dramatic rises as the buyers try to get back in.... I do believe the cryptocurrency space is here to stay and I think it’s going to be a great alternative currency that’s going to be used.”
The article also goes on to discuss the changing landscape in 2018, discussing regulations, scaling problems and splits, as well as the rise of altcoins, where bitcoin held 90% of the market cap for cryptos at the beginning of 2017, and just 40% of the market cap at the end of 2017.
The article also discusses the futures market for Bitcoin, saying:
Of course, there are many positive developments that are working in bitcoin’s favor, and will continue to do so throughout 2018. The launching of bitcoin futures on CBOE and CME has been heralded as a major achievement in bringing cryptocurrency to the mainstream. With Nasdaq expected to follow suit, investors will have plenty of options to bet on bitcoin using more traditional financial vehicles.
They also point out that "The general view on Wall Street" is that the entire digital asset class is "significantly overvalued", while more tech savvy people in the industry believe Bitcoin will increase in value exponentially before the final hurrah.
Overall it's a good article worth reading, in my opinion.