Introduction
So, you’ve heard about Bitcoin and you want to invest…
You’re not the only one! Bitcoin has been one of the best investments you could have made in the last 5 years. People are still using it to make a lot of money, in many different ways.
In this guide, I will teach you the history of Bitcoin, the future of Bitcoin and how to understand what goes into a Bitcoin price prediction. We will look at predictions for different years, including this year — the Bitcoin price prediction 2018. I will answer the questions that are on everybody’s minds, like “Will Bitcoin crash?” and “Why is Bitcoin rising?”.
Understanding how to predict and invest is the first step to building a successful portfolio. However, with all investments, there are risks involved. So, you should always speak to a financial advisor before making any major decisions.
Note: Your portfolio is your investments. For example, if you were to invest in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, then those coins are in your portfolio.
What Is Bitcoin?
Before going to Bitcoin price prediction, let’s go back a little to the basics. I assume, as you are reading this guide, you must have heard of Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the world’s first digital currency and it has been very popular over the last year! A lot of people have made large profits by buying Bitcoin for a low price and then selling it for a high price.
Confused? Well, let me explain.
Bitcoin is a currency, just like US Dollars, Japanese Yen or British Pounds. It can be bought, sold and exchanged for goods and services.
When you go to the shops, you can either use paper money to buy items, or you can pay using your bank card. Whenever you use your bank card to make a payment, the money is taken from bank account balance.
Bitcoin is very similar to that, except you are unable to receive it in its paper note form (like U.S Dollars). It is a peer-to-peer currency, meaning that there are no banks involved.
All Bitcoin transactions are electronic — you can use it to buy and sell things online and also in a few selected retail stores. Not only that, but there are now Bitcoin ATMs that can turn your Bitcoin into your local currency.
Some Cool Facts About Bitcoin:
Bitcoin was established in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto
Nobody knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is — this is one of the biggest mysteries about Bitcoin
Satoshi Nakamoto wanted to create a currency that did not rely on the current banking system
There are only 21 million bitcoins that can be created
How Does Bitcoin Operate?
One more thing to discuss before actually going to the Bitcoin price prediction. Every single Bitcoin transaction takes place on the Bitcoin blockchain. Blockchain is the technology that protects Bitcoin and its users by keeping them safe from hackers. It is powered by a network of computers, which are often called “nodes”. These nodes work together to verify every Bitcoin transaction that takes place.
In simple terms, when someone sends a Bitcoin to someone, one node on the blockchain network will verify the transaction using a mathematical equation. The transaction is then placed on the blockchain network.
The “nodes” that help operate the blockchain network are rewarded for their contribution. When a node verifies transactions, they receive Bitcoin for their efforts. This is a process that is called “mining”.
Bitcoin is decentralized: nodes all over the world operate the network. The network is not controlled by a main server, or a group of main servers. This is good for the security of Bitcoin, as it makes it much harder for hackers to get access to the network.
Why Does Bitcoin’s Price Fluctuate?
Note: to fluctuate means to change with no fixed pattern.
“Why is Bitcoin rising?” and “Is Bitcoin going to crash?” are questions we hear a lot. To make or understand a Bitcoin price prediction, you must first know how Bitcoin fluctuates.
Just like most currencies, the price of Bitcoin changes every day. The only difference is that the price of Bitcoin changes on a much greater scale than local currencies.
Bitcoin’s value is based on how valuable the market (the people buying and selling Bitcoin) thinks it is. Think about some of the more physical things you can currently invest in, such as Gold. The price of Gold depends on its supply and demand. For example, when a new Goldmine is discovered, the price drops. This is because more Gold becomes available and so it is no longer as rare. So the rarer Bitcoin is, the higher Bitcoin price predictions are.
The example of Gold is similar to how Bitcoin’s price changes. However, the price of Bitcoin usually changes because of the news that is published about it. Here’s how it works:
When there is bad news published about Bitcoin, there are a lot more people selling Bitcoin than buying Bitcoin. These people sell their Bitcoin for lower prices than the current value so that they can sell it quicklThis causes the price to drop.
When there is good news about Bitcoin, there are more people buying Bitcoin than there are people selling it. These people buy Bitcoin for higher prices than the current values so that they can buy it quickly. This causes the price to rise.
The Supply and Demand of Bitcoin
When Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, he set a limit for how many Bitcoins can be made — 21 million. This means that for as long as Bitcoin exists, there can only ever be 21 million — no more. So, if the popularity of Bitcoin increases, so should the value.
Bitcoin History
The price of Bitcoin is up one day, down the next day… it has a history of being difficult to predict in the short term.
Yet, a lot of investors like this.With prices that fluctuate (go up and down) regularly, investors can often buy Bitcoin at a low price and then sell it at a much higher price.
There are other investors, though, that buy Bitcoin to hold it for the long term — this is how a lot of people got rich! Some investors bought Bitcoin over 5 years ago for super low prices (under $100) and then held it until last year when it reached $10,000-20,000!
The 2017 Bitcoin Rush
Bitcoin’s value reached its highest point in December 2017 when it hit $19,498.63. At this point, Bitcoin was one of the most talked about things in the media. Everyone you knew — mothers, grandparents, school teachers and doctors — were all asking “How high will Bitcoin go?”. Bitcoin price and Bitcoin price predictions were two of the biggest trends on Twitter!
This media attention, or “hype”, caused Bitcoin’s price to increase more than it ever had before. It went way, way up. It was crazy! News reporters and financial analysts all made their Bitcoin predictions — which made the public interested. More and more people were trying to buy Bitcoin and so the price increased.
However, soon after Bitcoin reached its ATH, Bitcoin crashed.
Quick note: ‘ATH’ means All-Time High. It is the highest the price has ever been.
The question “when will Bitcoin crash?” had finally been answered. Millions of people were selling their Bitcoin and the price fell to under $10,000.
Other Bitcoin Crashes
Bitcoin’s price has crashed many times over the years:
In 2011, the price crashed 93%in five months.
From November 2014 to January 2015, Bitcoin’s value was halved, much like its crash in December 2017.
Another time that Bitcoin crashed was when investors became worried about new laws and regulations. There was news that South Korea and China might ban cryptocurrency exchanges. As you can imagine, this made a lot of investors scared and so they sold their Bitcoin.
Note: There aren’t a lot of laws in place for cryptocurrency and a lot of crypto transactions are anonymous. While some investors like this, it is seen as a problem by most governments.
Bitcoin Price Prediction: The Future of Bitcoin
We all wonder where Bitcoin is going to be 1 year, 2 years, 5 years or even 10 years from now. It’s tough to predict, but everyone loves to do it.
Will Bitcoin Crash Again?
If more countries create regulations/laws for cryptocurrency, more bad news will be published. This means we may see Bitcoin crashing again. Countries such as South Korea, Japan, China, France and the United States all want to create new regulations.
Even though they want to create new regulations, we must remember that:
This could take a long time.
It might not affect the price of Bitcoin.
Until then, the most popular Bitcoin projection is that it will continue to rise.
What Is The Bitcoin Price Prediction 2018?
This is the kind of question that starts arguments at dinner parties. Will Bitcoin rise this year? Will it fall this year? Who knows? What is the Bitcoin price prediction? Even though Bitcoin and its technology are very useful and are changing the world, anybody that claims to ‘know’ whether the price of Bitcoin will rise or fall is a liar. Sorry, but that’s the truth.
I strongly believe that blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are the future. This is why I believe the price of Bitcoin will increase this year. This is what I believe, but I can never know. All I can do is guess and make a Bitcoin price prediction. You can look at charts, you can look at news, but you can never ‘know’ for sure.
There are people that say Bitcoin is a ‘bubble’ like the ‘dot-com bubble’ that happened when internet companies’ stocks started increasing in price back in the late 1990s. They say that Bitcoin will ‘burst’ in 2018, meaning they think it will crash.
In the dot-com bubble, the stocks got to really high prices. But when the bubble ‘burst’, the stocks went straight back down to low prices. The people that bought the stocks when they were at high prices, lost most of their money. This is why it is important not to invest more money than you can afford to lose.
There are also people — like John McAfee (the founder of McAfee Security) — who predict that the Bitcoin price will keep increasing this year. In fact, John McAfee predicts that Bitcoin will multiply by 10 (increase by 1,000%) in 2018! He also says it’ll be $1,000,000 by 2020. Imagine that!
Bitcoin predictions from Experts
Saxo Bank’s Bitcoin Price Prediction — The Future Of Bitcoin
Saxo Bank thinks Bitcoin will increase a lot this year. Not quite as much as John McAfee does, but still a lot. Saxo’s Bitcoin prediction 2018: they say the Bitcoin price will rise above $60,000 in 2018! This isn’t all they say, though. They also say the Bitcoin price will then crash and lose more than 98% of its value! That’s quite rollercoaster-like.
Two Saxo Bank analysts said, “Bitcoin will continue to rise – and rise high – during most of 2018 but Russia and China will together engineer a crash.” They think it’ll crash because of new cryptocurrency regulations/laws from governments.
Blockchain Capital Partner, Spencer Bogart’s Bitcoin Price Prediction — How High Will Bitcoin Go?
Other analysts have made Bitcoin price predictions in 2018 that says it will increase to more than $50,000. Blockchain Capital partner, Spencer Bogart’s Bitcoin price prediction is exactly that. His Bitcoin projection says that
He said the increase would be due to big investments being made by large companies and investment banks. Mr. Bogart believes banks have seen how much money people are making with Bitcoin and do not want to miss out.
Founder of Wawllet, Mihail Lala’s Bitcoin Price Prediction — What’s the Bitcoin Price Prediction 2020?
It’s clear that a lot of experts think Bitcoin will do great things this year, but what about the longer term?
Mihail Lala (the founder and CEO of Wawllet) has a Bitcoin price prediction 2020. His Bitcoin projection is that Bitcoin will get to over $100,000 by 2020. Again, that’s less than John McAfee’s $1 million predictions, but it’s still huge!
CEO of VA Research, David Garrity’s Bitcoin Price Prediction — Will Bitcoin Crash?
There are other experts who offer a different opinion. David Garrity (the CEO at GVA Research) told Bloomberg that Bitcoin is going to crash as low as $5,000 this year.
It isn’t all bad news, though. He believes that by the end of 2018, it will go back up. He says it’ll get to almost $20,000, just like at the end of 2017. As we have seen in Bitcoin’s history, this is completely normal for the cryptocurrency.
We should not ask ourselves, “Is Bitcoin going to crash?”, but “When will Bitcoin crash?”. This is because when it does crash, we can buy Bitcoin for a much lower price!
Conclusion
It’s clear: if done correctly, buying and selling Bitcoin can mean big profits. It’s made a lot of money for people in the past, and still is today. It is also clear, though, that you can lose a lot of money too.
You should now have a greater understanding of how and why the Bitcoin price changes (supply and demand, regulations, news etc.), which means you know how people make their Bitcoin price predictions. As well as thinking about these things (supply and demand, regulations, news etc.), they also think about the technology of Bitcoin (the Bitcoin blockchain) and its progress.
Now that you’ve read about the predictions of Bitcoin experts, do you have a Bitcoin Price Prediction of your own? Let us know!
Important note
Before investing in Bitcoin (or any other cryptocurrency), you should make further research and always speak to a financial advisor. Never invest more than you can afford to lose. Bitcoin is still young and the price is always changing, so things sometimes happen that nobody can predict.
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*Note: this article is a personal opinion. Before making any investment decisions you should consult with a professional.