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Bitcoin prices will likely triple the value and erase much of its losses made last year by end-2019, largely driven by a recovery in investors’ demand and renewed optimism among market players, FxWirePro poll showed.
The bruised Bitcoin, lost about 80 percent in 2018, depressed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announcement of more regulatory actions on the initial coin offering (ICO). But so far this year the most popular cryptocurrency managed to avoid further losses, hovering around $3,800.
According to the median forecast of nearly a dozen research organizations and institutional investors, taken February 28 - March 5, Bitcoin prices are forecast to hit $15,000 by December this year. While two predicted BTC/USD to remain below the current level of $3,800, five forecast it to surge over $20,000 level by December. Only one forecast prices to rise to $28,000.
“Bitcoin has just gone through a tough 2018, with the cryptocurrency suffering on a number of fronts. Still, overall, the cryptocurrency and the technology it rests on continue to show a lot of potential looking out and we expect the market will regain composure over the medium to longer term,” noted LMAX Exchange in its February 18 report.
“At this stage, any upside moves are classified as corrective ahead of what could be the next downside extension and bearish continuation. It would take a break back above previous support in the 6,000 area to take the pressure off the downside. Next critical support comes in the form of the July and September 2017 lows, around 2,000 and 2,975 respectively.”
It is worth noting that David Garrity, CEO at GVA Research, in his interview with Bloomberg said that he believes bitcoin prices to back up by the end of this year. He said the crypto coin will almost reach $20,000, similar to what happened at the end of 2017.
“As we have seen in Bitcoin’s history, this is completely normal for the cryptocurrency,” he added.
Looking at Ethereum, the second most preferred cryptocurrency as per market capitalization, has lost about 9 percent in the last one week. However, if bitcoin recovers its losses as predicted, the ETH/USD will follow the path.
“We’re coming off a year of dramatic weakness in 2018 and the cryptocurrency continues to face headwinds into 2019. Ongoing regulatory challenges and a global economic downturn are some of those headwinds that need to be considered. At the same time, longer-term prospects are looking quite bright and valuations are increasingly attractive with adoption showing signs of ramping up again. There is a lot of demand for Ether that has been reported between $50 and $100,” LMAX added.
FxWirePro is a leading financial analysis company providing real time research to FX participants around the world. To participate in FxWirePro’s monthly cryptocurrency poll, please drop an email with your company details at [email protected]
