The Bitcoin market “is looking for a catalyst to make its decisive move, which may be imminent”, amid a key platform’s launch that could “send bitcoin’s price soaring,” a cryptocurrency expert has predicted.
The optimistic forecast comes despite the virtual asset suffering significant price drops throughout the year as it experienced vast swings in value over short periods of time.
BTC’s value reached record highs in January, hitting more than $20,000 (£15,000) per coin, before plummeting to a low of about $5,900 (£4,600) in July, according to CoinMarketCap.
Since then prices have not returned to their former highs, with the digital currency valued at $6,300 (£4,900) at the time of writing.
More recently, BTC has experienced a gloomy couple of days of trading as its price fell sharply by $200 (£157) in just 24 hours between October 29 and 30, according to CoinMarketCap.
But Matt Newton, from the online trading platform eToro, has suggested the asset could grow in value as it enters its second decade.
He told The Independent: “The market is showing no real strength on either the upside of the downside, as bitcoin finds itself unable to break the $7,000 barrier.
“The market is looking for a catalyst to make its decisive move, which may well be imminent.
“ICE’s platform launch, announced in September, has the potential to send bitcoin’s price soaring.
Bitcoin price news: a chart shows how bitcoin’s price fell over the course of 24 hours (Image: CoinMarketCap)
“This physically-backed settlement could be the next piece of the institutional investment puzzle to send the price upwards.”
Nigel Green, founder and CEO of UK-based financial consultancy firm deVere Group, claimed the BTC market will have “grown beyond recognition” by the time the world’s leading cryptocurrency celebrates its 10th birthday this year.
He said: “There’s an ongoing shift away from fiat money, and the momentum of this is only set to increase over the next 10 years.
“The pace of mass adoption will speed up and the cryptocurrency market cap can reasonably be assumed to reach at least 5000 percent above its current valuation over the next decade.
Bitcoin is a highly volatile asset that sometimes experiences huge swings in its value (Image: GETTY)
“As such, the market will have grown beyond recognition when bitcoin celebrates its 20th anniversary.”
The crypto expert lauded BTC as the initiator of the so-called “crypto-revolution” and credited the digital asset with changing the “way the world handles money”.
He said: “Bitcoin is what kickstarted the crypto revolution and it has changed the way the world handles money, makes transactions, does business, and manages assets, among other things, forever.
“It all began with bitcoin.
“However, I believe that bitcoin’s influence and dominance of the cryptocurrency sector will drastically reduce in its second decade.
“This is because as mass adoption of cryptocurrency grows, more and more digital assets will be launched – by organisations in both the private and the public sectors.
“This will increase competition for bitcoin and dent its market share.”
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