Crypto's predicted to grow by end of 2018, despite Jan crash

Cryptocurrencies predicted to grow by the end of 2018, despite January crash

Cryptocurrency is highly volatile, there’s no two ways about it. A perfect example of this took place on January 16 this year, when, of the top 100 cryptocurrencies, only three entered the market without a decrease in value.

Despite this, fintech leaders from across the globe remain optimistic, even though the crash sent investors into a tailspin.

Will bitcoin remain king?

This month, nine fintech leaders came together for Finder’s monthly Cryptocurrency Predictions, forecasting how the top 10 by market cap and three trending cryptocurrencies will perform in 2018.

Despite the crash, which saw most coins take a tumble, bitcoin (BTC) is predicted to remain the holder of the cryptocurrency throne for market cap and value. The panelists predict it to be worth US$43,472 on average per coin by the year’s end – over US$10,000 more than January’s predictions.

“As adoption in the space continues, we’ll see a rise in bitcoin along with other altcoins. The usability of this new asset class continues to be a hurdle. As we find more opportunities to use crypto to pay for burgers and rent, we’ll see a continual uptick in the values across the board. We’re really still at the beginning stages,” said Jen Greyson, CEO of Neural, who is predicting bitcoin (BTC) to be worth US$34,000 by December 31, 2018.

Cardano to take the lead for price increase

Interestingly, this month, out of the 13 coins, the panelists predict that Cardano (ADA) will see the greatest price increase this year (+1,669.52%), followed by Bitcoin (BTC) (+292.07%) and Ethereum (ETH) (+192.00%).

The highest prediction for Cardano (ADA) came from Skye Dunworth, Founder of Spendher, predicting it to be worth US$50.00 by December 31, 2018. That’s an increase of 8233.33%, when compared to its $0.60 price as at January 30, 2018 when the predictions took place. She said, “the scalability and interoperability of Cardano has huge potential. If they can get moving on wider spread implementation, we will see some substantial if not exponential upward movement this year.”

In contrast, both Dogecoin (DOGE) and Vertcoin (VTC) are the only coins out of the 13 expected to drop by the end of the year (-4.89% and -19.94% respectively).

Now for market cap

When the forecast market capitalisations for bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ethereum (ETH) were compared – the only three of the thirteen coins with reported number of coins available – bitcoin (BTC) is predicted to have the greatest increase in market cap by the end of the year, at 309%.
Fred Schebesta, CEO and Co-Founder of finder.com said, “Bitcoin is experiencing a lot of influence from hedge funds and other money adjusting its prices as they get used to the market.” He is one of the most optimistic on the panel when it comes to bitcoin, predicting it to be worth US$50,000 by December 31, 2018.

Bitcoin (BTC) was followed by Ethereum (ETH) with a 219% increase. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) comes in third with an increase of 98%.

The way forward

The panelists, along with some fresh new faces, will come together again in March to provide their updated predictions.

Will Bitcoin (BTC) remain king, or will an up and coming step up to the throne? Only time will tell.

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Michelle Hutchison is a Money Expert at personal finance comparison website finder.com. She has been working in financial services for the past nine years and is widely quoted in the media across the globe.

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