Will Bitcoin Price Reach $100,000 This Year?

Will Bitcoin Price Reach $100,000 This Year?

Bitcoin, ethereum, and other top cryptocurrencies have already been on a wild ride when it comes to value in 2018. The world's top digital currency by market capitalization fell early in the year and is now trading at just over $10,000 per coin, which still constitutes a significant markup over this time in 2017. (See also: Bitcoin Price Continues Slide.)

While the major gains across the industry in late-December 2017 seem to have largely faded, there are some analysts who predict that cryptocurrencies could rise again over the months to come. The Danish firm Saxo Bank believes that a bitcoin price of $100,000 may be possible in 2018. It has been right about seemingly outlandish predictions like this before.

Saxo Bank made a wild prediction regarding the price of bitcoin in late 2016. At the time, the Danish company included in its list of "Outrageous Predictions" that bitcoin's price might triple in value over the course of 2017.

As it turns out, that prediction came true – and then some. Bitcoin soared from about $900 to more than $19,000 over the course of 2017.

Saxo Bank analyst Kay Van-Petersen told CNBC that she "wouldn't be surprised" to see bitcoin climb to somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 this year.

Van-Petersen points to the emerging price pattern of a major surge, followed by a plunge and plateau, then another major surge. Van-Petersen says bitcoin has been "building a foundation," and that the cryptocurrency will soon "re-rate a bit higher."

In the "Outrageous Predictions" list for 2018, Saxo Bank suggested that bitcoin might peak at more than $60,000 per coin this year. That doesn't necessarily mean that the growth of the cryptocurrency will be never-ending, though. In fact, the bank also predicts that the bitcoin bubble will eventually collapse sometime this year as well. (See also: Is The Bitcoin Price Bubble Bursting?)

Saxo Bank predicted that "after its spectacular peak in 2018, bitcoin [will crash] and [limp] into 2019." The end result could be that in January 2019, bitcoin could be worth just a fraction of what it is now.

Detractors might point to the fact that although Saxo accurately predicted bitcoin's gains last year, its reasoning (inflation and the U.S. dollar rising) was incorrect. Regardless, you can be sure crypto-enthusiasts will watch the top cryptocurrency very closely in 2018.

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