Bitcoin
Will Ethereum Be the Next High Value Coin in 2018?
With the steady rise in price of Bitcoin, it is hard not to keep an eye on Ethereum. Trading at $17,382.64 on December 11, according to Coindesk data, the Bitcoin surge could be good news to cryptocurrency enthusiasts. There are plenty other cryptocurrencies and tokens right now and going by the success of Bitcoin, investors and cryptocurrency stakeholders expect them to do well in coming months. And their expectations are not farfetched because all of these currencies are founded on the block chain technology.
One of these is Ethereum, which according to some sources, could be the next big thing after Bitcoin. Some sources predict an unprecedented surge in Ethereum price peaking atUS$4,000 in 2018. Considering that no one saw the Bitcoin surge coming, this could happen. Indeed, all things are possible in the cryptocurrency world.
There are many factors that will affect the value of Ethereum in 2018. First, some of the most interesting projects today are running on this infrastructure. While this is a good thing for Ethereum, there are key issues that could negatively impact its projected rise. For instance, raising money on the platform seems to clog it, slowing it down for hours. In extreme cases, the platform becomes unusable for hours. With the rising popularity of ICO projects, the EthereumBlockchain should not have issues handling such transactions. A case in point is the recent clog that was brought about by CryptoKitties, which were so popular they briefly broke the platform. Several other ICOs this year have slowed down the platform. The good thing is that Ethereum developers are always working to ensure the platform is scalable.
Smart contracts are Ethereum’s biggest selling point. The smart contracts, which greatly attract developers, could very well push the cryptocurrency towards the US$1000 mark. The only speck on the smart contracts is their auditing system. In the recent past, people have lost funds through Ethereum-related projects because of the auditing flaws. Experts believe that independent auditing could be the solution to this problem. With a number of recent projects focusing on the auditing issue, this could be a good sign for Ethereum.
While some of these issues might fail to propel the cryptocurrency to a possible four digit value in 2018, there are other key factors that could. One of these is the upcoming changes on the protocol, which could possibly translate to success in coming months. However, for this to work, the platform needs to ensure that other alternate coins do not outclass it. And several other altcoins are showing signs of outclassing Ethereum. For some reason, dozens of altcoins focusing on decentralization, smart contracts and ICOs do not suffer from Ethereum’s problems, including loss of user funds, even when their systems are down.
In a nutshell, Ethereum has lots of potential. For it to become the next most valuable currency, however, it needs to address most of its flaws, something that is expected to take time to accomplish. As such, hitting the four digit figures might not happen by next year. With so many positive things going on for Ethereum, its main challenge for now is to up its competition against Bitcoin, a fairly steep call.
Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency.
Image courtesy of Duncan Rawlinson via Flickr
Bitcoin price dumped hard on Monday, briefly slipping below $41,000, erasing gains recorded in the previous week. The premier cryptocurrency seems to have exhausted its recent rally propelled by industry vulnerabilities. At the time of writing, the world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading slightly lower at $41,385. Bitcoin’s total market cap has dipped by 2% over the past day, while the total volume of BTC tokens traded over the same period climbed by 58%.
Fundamentals
Bitcoin price has been facing retracements and a rollercoaster over the past few days after recently rocketing to a 20-month peak. On-chain data has suggested that many investors used the opportunity to take some profits, leading to a decline in the asset’s price.
Bitcoin’s price slump is mirrored in the wider crypto market, with the global crypto market cap decreasing by 1.85% over the past 24 hours to $1.55 trillion. The total crypto market volume has increased by 32% over the same period. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index has plunged from a level of extreme greed to a greed level of 70, suggesting a decline in risk appetite.
Ethereum, the largest altcoin by market capitalization, is currently trading at $2,167, down almost 3% for the day. Meme coins have been hit hard by the market slump, with Dogecoin and Shiba Inu down by more than 4% over the last day.
Last week on Thursday, cryptocurrency experts took notice of…
Bitcoin price edged lower on Thursday despite optimism in wider markets on the back of the Fed’s interest rate decision. The flagship cryptocurrency has been consolidating above the critical level of $42,000 after briefly topping $44,000, its highest level in 20 months. Bitcoin was trading 0.71% lower at $42,569 at press time. BTC’s total market cap has increased by more than 3% over the last day to $832 billion, while the total volume of the asset traded over the same period jumped by 22%.
Economic Outlook
Bitcoin price has been trading sideways over the past few days, suggesting a pause in its recent rally towards $45,000. The premier cryptocurrency has decreased by 4% in the past week but remains 15.22% higher in the month to date. The digital asset has staged a significant recovery this year after a torrid 2022 in which a string of scandals, including the collapse of FTX, led to a market meltdown, undermining the credibility of the sector.
The crypto market has been buoyed by the Fed’s latest interest rate decision. The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its key interest rate unchanged for the third consecutive time, in line with market expectations. With the easing of the inflation rate, members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to keep the benchmark overnight borrowing rate in a targeted range between 5.25%-5.5%.
Additionally, the central bank indicated that three rate…
Bitcoin price has been hovering above the $43,000 psychological level over the past two days amid anticipation about the potential approval of a spot bitcoin ETF. The flagship cryptocurrency has climbed more than 16% in the past week and nearly 170% in the year to date. Bitcoin’s total market cap has increased by nearly 5% over the past 24 hours to $858.9 billion, while the total volume of the token traded rose by 43%. The Bitcoin price was trading at $43,914 at press time.
Fundamentals
Bitcoin price has posted significant gains over the past few days, climbing to its highest level since April 2022, before the crash of a stablecoin that started a litany of company failures, pummeling crypto prices. The world’s largest cryptocurrency briefly topped the crucial level of $44,000 on Wednesday amid rising momentum despite being massively overbought.
According to analysts, with no spot bitcoin ETF approvals yet and the halving event five to six months away, the market is riding on FOMO. Capital has been flowing in the Bitcoin market amid enthusiasm that the launches of spot ETF will bring in billions of dollars of new investment into the crypto sector.
Investors have already started providing capital as seed money for ETF products. Notably, a recent report by CoinDesk showed that the world’s largest fund manager, BlackRock, received $100,000 in capital from a seed investor for its spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund…
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