The Bitcoin is burgeoning so the digital currency’s future price in the market is not easy to forecast. Unfortunately, data in the Bitcoin market is not as sufficient in gold trading. There are many signs that provide insights into the pricing trends of the crypto-currency. One that is often missed is the habitual halving or network change. The currency has attained unprecedented highs in the past two halving such as that one in 2012.
Unparalleled Peaks
Users of Bitcoin were used to the figure, $32 from July of 2011 to February 25 (2013). It was the record high during that period. The next high was on April 8 (2013) which was at $238. That corresponded to an increase of 64 percent when the all-time peak in July of 2011 was attained. Afterwards, the digital currency’s price went down to roughly $69 in July of 2013. It exceeded the previous high of $238 during the first week of November of 2013.
There was a sudden upsurge of around 370 percent so Bitcoin was $1.122 prior to the price downfall and consequent consolidation. Three years afterward, the virtual currency is being purchased and sold at $900. Prominent South African entrepreneur and chief executive officer of start-up Civic Vinny Lingham earlier predicted the currency would exceed the $800 level. With all these movements, Bitcoin may reach $5, 290 in the short and medium-term.
Technical events encoded in the Distributed Ledger Network makes the analysis of Bitcoin prices more convoluted. One example is the block reward halving in 2016. The Bitcoin can be the subject of numerous headlines next year if the halving in 2012 will be the major benchmark.
Network Halving
These two halvings in the eight-year history of Bitcoin is considered to have profound effects on the pricing structure of Bitcoin more than any other factor. The 2012 halving boosted demand but also drove interest charges higher. It also produced disinflationary systems or slowdown in price increases. The result was continuing price hikes based on testimonies of Bitcoin users.
Substantial price increases after 2012 got a lot of media hype worldwide. The circumstance of this year’s halving also occurred in the midst of price escalation. However, the connection between the two remains under a lot of speculations. Since July of this year, increases in pricing have become more significant. If ever the 1,720% percent takes effect, the $648 will reach at about $11, 210 which is an enormous sum.
The question is what will be the Bitcoin’s position several years from now? Many stakeholders in the industry believe there will be more price increases. Some people do not even care at all while a few are concerned about these movements. Experts are looking at the all-time highs and what these did after the halving of 2012. There are missing factors but at the current trend Bitcoin can land between $5, 290 and $11, 860.
Meanwhile, the altcoin has been ignored since the major price escalation of Bitcoin and its domination went up to around 84 percent. Interest in altcoin declined as the alternative virtual asset was left behind in terms of market capitalization during the last two months.
Bitcoin and Altcoin
At present, people are focused on the price changes of Bitcoin. Several years back, altcoins also gained some dominance as falling prices caused Bitcoin to drop to negative levels. Now, it is the other way around as the altcoin is experiencing price decreases and lack of consumer interest. This is a big difference to the upsurge in 2013 when certain altcoins such as the Litecoin was boosted by the rise of Bitcoin. Other virtual currencies like Ethereum and Dash saw a significant plunge in market value. However, Ethereum is more of a decentralized platform for apps that function as programmed with no likelihood of restriction, fraud and meddling by third parties.
The leading virtual currencies in the digital asset space have maintained their positions for a number of months. According to reviews (2016), the top 10 currencies are:
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Dash
- Litecoin
- Dogecoin
- Nxt
- Zcash
- Peer Coin
- Ripple
- Monero
Many of these still carry substantial value and offer more than what Bitcoin can offer. Take for instance, Monero (not on the above-mentioned list) which is an open source virtual currency created in April of 2014 and focuses more on privacy and stability. The exchange rate is roughly $US9 for every XMR (Monero currency) and maintains the fifth place (market capitalization). One of the reasons is the speculation regarding the development of secrecy features and present acceptance in the black market. Nonetheless, the focus on Bitcoin is more evident. So, is the trend going to be reversed in the years to come?
Another factor is the price rush or outpouring of Bitcoin is encouraging more crypto-currency traders to jump into the bandwagon. Perhaps, traders will have to wait until the bullish trend takes over for other virtual currencies. Will there be a positive outcome for altcoin and the rest of these currencies? There is definitely a good future for Altcoin as many projects are experimenting with new features. For example, Litecoin is planning to try the soft-fork (Segregated Witness) scheme ahead of Bitcoin. Ethereum has come up with a newer model of Geth (Command Line Interface required to run a complete Ethereum nodule operating in Go) using the Swarm Alpha execution. The Ethereum can turn into a Web 3.0 instead of a simple crypto-currency.
All these developments may seem very vague to ordinary people. Nevertheless, the bottom line is not the technicalities involved but the future of Bitcoin, Altcoin, Dash and other digital currencies.