Bitcoin is currently trading for about $9,000. This is roughly $300 less than yesterday’s high of $9,333, which sent both investors and analysts flying. It is also a near-three percent drop in 24 hours. At press time, bitcoin’s overall market cap has fallen to about $154 billion.
Though a slide may be in the books, experts say that this is nothing to get too concerned about, and that the bullish trends are likely to continue in the long run. Trevor Gerszt – CEO of cryptocurrency investment firm Coin IRA – explains that the recent fall is part of a larger movement that could potentially take bitcoin to the $11,000 mark within the coming weeks:
“Bitcoin’s recent price rise is just the first step in an eventual recovery. Many of the underlying fundamentals supporting a higher price remains strong, and demand is rising again. We could see some short-term resistance and profit-taking at $10,000, but once the price pushes through that level, and especially once it gets above $11,000, we will see the price continuing to rise from there over the rest of the year.”
Indeed, Gerszt believes that 2018 could potentially be even stronger for the currency than 2017 was, and he’s not alone in his sentiment. John Pfeffer – a partner at his London-based family office Pfeffer Capital – was an official speaker at the recent Sohn Investment Conference in New York. Following his speech, everyone’s minds had virtually flocked in droves towards bitcoin.
Pfeffer boldly predicted that the currency was on its way to reaching the $700,000 mark – about 75 percent higher than its current price. While he did not offer a timeframe for his prediction, Pfeffer is marking newfound bullish sentiment in the cryptocurrency arena and surpassing even Tim Draper, who recently predicted that one bitcoin would be worth $250,000 in the year 2022.
“Bitcoin is the first viable candidate to replace gold the world has ever seen,” he explained. “So, if bitcoin becomes the dominant, non-sovereign store of value, it could be the new gold or new reserve currency.”
He predicts that bitcoin could eventually replace all the gold in the world, as it is safer and easier to store.
It is certainly an exciting notion, but it is hard to decipher what, exactly, accounts for bitcoin’s current drop status. One source suggests that a new wave of sell-offs occurred after the currency ultimately encountered strong resistance at $9,600, while SegWit says it is merely a matter of confusion amongst new investors who do not know the difference between bitcoin and bitcoin cash.
In a statement, representatives of the company explained:
“Some of our customers always confused bitcoin cash with bitcoin, and sent payments to the wrong addresses belonging to opposite chains. After activating CashAddr support for bitcoin cash, we have decided it is time to implement SegWit as well for faster transactions and lower fees for our customers.”
Granted this confusion dissipates and investors become more aware of the differences between both entities, sell-offs and incorrect transactions could become less common, helping to stabilize bitcoin and its varying “spin-offs” a little further down the line.
