Cryptocurrency market could hit $1 trillion this year with bitcoin surging to $50,000, experts say
- Cryptocurrencies could go on a bull run greater than last year and pass the trillion-dollar value mark, Jamie Burke, CEO at Outlier Ventures said.
- Technological advancements and new investor products could push bitcoin to $50,000 in 2018, Thomas Glucksmann of Gatecoin told CNBC.
- Investors may focus on so-called "utility tokens" this year which are digital coins that can power blockchain technologies, according to one expert.
Cryptocurrencies could go on a bull run greater than last year and pass the trillion-dollar mark in terms of value, experts told CNBC, following a recent violent sell-off across digital coins.
Bitcoin has seen a huge fall in recent days, dropping below $6,000 for the first time since mid-November. On Wednesday, it was trading above the $7,000 level as the cryptocurrency market stabilized.
At its lowest point on Tuesday, the total cryptocurrency market saw over $550 billion wiped off its value. But industry insiders see another rally ahead.
"Increasing regulatory recognition of cryptocurrency exchanges, the entrance of institutional capital and major technology developments will contribute to the market's rebound and push cryptocurrency prices to all new highs this year," Thomas Glucksmann, head of APAC business development at cryptocurrency exchange Gatecoin, told CNBC by email on Tuesday.
"There is no reason why we couldn't see bitcoin pushing $50,000 by December."
The technology advancements Glucksmann referenced include bitcoin's so-called Lightning Network, which would boost the very slow transaction speeds using the cryptocurrency.
"One possible appetizer for the bulls, or the catalyst for the recovery, will be the release of another cryptocurrency backed instrument listed on a major exchange. There are several candidates in the pipeline, it's only a matter of time until we have a cryptocurrency backed ETF (exchange-traded fund)."
Last year, the CME and CBOE both released bitcoin futures products that people could trade. And Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman told CNBC in a recent interview that the exchange was "continuing to investigate" cryptocurrency futures.
There is still not a bitcoin ETF or exchange-traded fund on the market. An ETF tracks the price of an asset and would allow people to trade bitcoin without having to buy the digital currency on an exchange. Noted cryptocurrency investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the brothers who founded the Gemini Trust digital currency exchange, had an ETF application rejected last year.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/07/bitcoin-price-could-hit-50000-this-year-experts-say.html