Bitcoin might not be having the best time of its existence right now, as it is going through a series of price swings. Today, on January 11, the most known cryptocurrency in the world dropped as much as 14% to a low of $12,800, the closest rate to the December 22 30% devastating decline to less than $12,000 within the past month. Nevertheless, BTC enthusiasts remain optimistic concerning its fate in 2018. Very optimistic – to put it mildly.
Fundstrat’s co-founder and one of the most prominent bitcoin bull Tom Lee this week claimed that it would be a piece of cake for the virtual coin to double or even triple in price this year.
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Lee’s Positive Prediction
In an interview with CNBC on January 9, after bitcoin survived the first wave of dropping to $14,365 a day earlier, the Wall Street’s most known BTC supporter Lee predicts the coin to grow over $20,000 already in the first part of 2018.
"Even on a risk-adjusted basis, I think bitcoin is going to easily outperform the S&P. On a long-term basis, [the easiest way to look at bitcoin is] as a replacement or a store of value. So as millennials discover and generate income, they're going to use it as a replacement for gold," explained Lee.
Talking about short-term perspectives, the expert believes that bitcoin will recover entirely by the second half of the year as well as it will show much more progress in growing by December.
"We think that by mid-2018, we're going to be part of the way there, and that's why we get [bitcoin to $20,000]. If [bitcoin] can actually rise close to [that $20,000 level] in the first half of this year, I think in the second half of 2018, we'll see a move bigger than that. So I think bitcoin is still something you should own," said Lee.
Bitcoin vs. Gold
The Wall Street bull also assumed that if bitcoin received 5% of the gold market that would be $50,000. This is over 200% growth from the rate at which BTC is being traded currently. It is especially remarkable as investors have been taunting that BTC craze could take market share from that ore. And when gold has been tied to the rate of approximately $1,300, BTC skyrocketed by over 1,500% within 2017.
Is Lee Right?
Fundstrat Global Advisors head of research Lee has already established himself as a sort of crypto ‘clairvoyant’, as five months ago he forecasted BTC’s growth over $10,000. Moreover, Lee claimed that the digital coin would increase in price faster and better than equities by late 2017. And what happened? In the mid-December, bitcoin skyrocketed to the all-time high $20,000. It also outperformed stocks.
However, after a severe correction of 25% drop, it kind of stabilized at around $14,000-$15,000 per unit. In the meantime, such commodities as oil, gold and stocks went up by 10%, 5%, and 3% respectively. Notwithstanding the above, in early 2018 the father of all cryptos is already showing a 15% increase.
Other Remarks
Tom Lee is not the only bitcoin-price-increase-enthusiast. Not long ago the partner at venture capital company Blockchain Capital Spencer Bogart predicted that bitcoin would soar more than $50,000. However, the expert emphasized that there is two potential behind bitcoin’s future near-term progress: it should attract more retail and institutional investors.
Earlier other bitcoin optimists forecasted its bright future in 2018. Among them, there are hedge fund investor Mike Novogratz and financial analyst Max Keiser, who claimed that the value of one bitcoin very probably will overcome the $40,000 margin by late 2018.
