Bitcoin forecast for 2018: Optimists and pessimists are in balance

Optimistic expert
forecasts with price targets of up to 500,000 US dollars remind some experienced stockbrokers of the times of the Neuer Markt. But which price increases can Bitcoin investors actually expect and which coin has the potential to outperform Bitcoin?
The crypto madness will also accompany investors through the year 2018. At what level the highest-capitalized digital currency Bitcoin will be at the end of the year, however, even experts believe that there is almost insurmountable dissent. While regulators are warning of total loss and making comparisons with the millennium-wide speculative bubble, Bitcoin bulls are making price forecasts that seem to exceed common sense. In contrast to the generally positive assessments for the global stock markets, the topic of Bitcoin is an extraordinary disagreement.

Bitcoin optimists
The world's best-known digital currency dwarfed all common asset classes in 2017, with only a few speculators expecting a tenfold increase in prices within a few months. But that's not enough - Managing Director Dave Chapman of Octagon Strategy, a Hong Kong-based company specializing in cryptocurrency trading, says, "I would not be surprised to see a six-digit headline." Chapman estimates that the price of a Bitcoin in 2018 can rise to as much as $ 100,000. With a more conservative outlook, co-founder of INS Ecosystem Dmitry Zhulin says, "Bitcoin is expected to grow to around $ 30,000- $ 40,000 in 2018, based on its continued acceptance as a means of payment and capital preservation."

Luxury problem of bitcoin brokers
The current hype about the digital currencies is causing bitcoin brokers to capitulate. Various file sharing exchanges that offer trading in cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly overloaded. The Hong Kong-based crypto exchange Binance now had to limit even the new customer acquisition. A similarly high demand led to a multi-day stop for new customers at the Taiwan-based Bitfinex stock exchange. In an interview with news agency Bloomberg, Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng said, "We have a guy whose full-time job is to ask for more servers, and every day they say 'Okay, here's 200 more', but that's not enough . " This enormous rush illustrates the enormous interest that the digital currencies are experiencing.

Bitcoin pessimists
J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon first compared the enthusiasm for the digital thaler with the tulip mania of the 17th century - even though he has since revised this statement again - and was as skeptical about the virtual currency as currently Felix Hufeld, head of the Federal Institute for Financial. Hufeld sees in the current Bitcoin hype a blistering analogous to the wild speculative years of the Neuer Markt. Due to the extremely high volatility, the BaFi chief warns of a total loss for investors. In addition, the head of Golden Gates Edelmetal GmbH warns crypto investors who see Bitcoin as a safe haven: "Inflation-proof coins are made of gold, not bits!"

Regulations by governments From a regulatory point of view,
the world's most popular cryptocurrency is also currently suffering. There are now tendencies that let the speculators quickly glimpse into competing currencies such as Ethereum, Ripple or IOTA. Regulations by regulators, as they have now been supposedly adopted in South Korea, poison the performance of the coin. By law, the local government now wants to ban the possession of anonymous crypto accounts, it said. The discussions in this regard are still ongoing. As a result, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has also announced that it will take a more determined stance against the misappropriation of bitcoins. Even in China, trading in digital currencies is already prohibited. As a result, further steps by the international financial supervisors are expected in the coming months. However, Dimitry Zhulin does not see such a development as very critical and says: "Despite an increase in regulation in the crypto world, I believe that blockchain technology is not hindered by strong regulation

Conclusion
One thing is for sure - the topics Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and Blockchain will continue to cause a sensation in the coming months. The direction in which the prices of Bitcoin will develop is extremely uncertain. Edward Stringham, head of the American Institute for Economic Research puts it in a nutshell: "Nobody knows the true value of a bitcoin, it's impossible to predict whether it will fall to zero, reach a million dollars, or anything in between." It is also unclear whether Bitcoin can defend its dominance in the digital money world by the end of the year. In the fast paced world of coins and tokens, rivals such as Litecoin, Dash, Monero, Neo, Starcoin, Augur, Zcash, or Nxt could take the lead on Bitcoin. In addition, globally established companies such as Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Facebook, Netflix, Alibaba or even SAP could follow the example of Kodak and create their own crypto currencies.