Market experts see ₿itcoin (BTC) emerging strong following a horrid 2018 that may see the world’s most influential crypto capping the year to new highs.
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After its strong ascent at $US20,000 in the final quarter of December 2017 courtesy of a global virtual currency fad, shed more than 70 pct of its market value and spent most of 2018 tip-toeing between the $US4000 level. The crypto was trading under $US3500 as of this posting.
Two fintech gurus have given their proverbial 20-cent on how ₿itcoin and its key counterparts will fare this year – CEO Ben Ritchie, and Finder.com.au and HiveEx.com co-founder, Fred Schebesta.
Of these two, Ritchie is the most optimistic, betting a year-end price of $US9500 for ₿itcoin. The average price projection was only below the $US7000 mark.
Slow yet steady rise
The Australian investment management company top honcho, who predicts a slow yet steady increase, said two things that market players need to keep an eye on this year is “whether we’ll see de-coupling of the cryptocurrencies, as to date they have trended in a relatively similar fashion.”
The second, Ritchie pointed out, is the effect of the conservative finance sector on virtual money. “Will ₿itcoin clmb if the S&P drops? On-ramp and off-ramps to purchasing cryptocurrencies will improve in 2019 with Bakkt and Fidelity Group entering the market.”
A forerunner in the electronic currency ecosystem, ₿itcoin commanded the most attention, followed by ethereum (ETH) and ripple (XRP). For instance, in a recent survey it showed that more than 1 million Australians are interested in investing in cryptocurrency.
Open to possibilities
For Schebesta, he believes that Millennials are remarkably open than before to adopting ₿itcoin as a most viable form of investment.
“They have grown up with digital technology, so it’s little wonder they want to get involved in cryptocurrency. They are looking at investing very differently to their parents.”
Schebesta stressed that lack of ample knowledge was one of the major issues in embracing the promise that ₿itcoin holds.
In the same survey, it showed that 11 pct of respondents had a tough time trading in cryptocurrency. On the other hand, older Australians were especially cynical, with only 1 pct of the so-called Baby Boomers saying they are interested in investing in crypto.
Published at Tue, 05 Feb 2019 07:15:09 +0000
