Bitcoin started 2017 just around $1,000 only to reach almost $20,000 right before the year ended. Fast forward a few months after, Bitcoin is already trading below $9,000.
Are you on the same page as Bill Gates when it comes to the future of Bitcoin? If you’ve dismissed Bitcoin starting 2018 after its price crashed, then perhaps, you want to change your mind after hearing what was said during the Consensus 2018 conference.
A former JPMorgan trader is confident that by the end of the year, Bitcoin is going to regain its near $20,000 value. However, there are some things that should be done first. There are some changes that need to be adopted before we see a bullish trend for Bitcoin.
Danny Masters who now works as the chairman of investment firm CoinShares mentioned to CNBC that despite the bullish 2017, cryptocurrency market still lacks the tools that institutional investors need in order to operate effectively. According to Masters, “we need to see this structure continue to build”. He also added that “we need to see the custody solutions come and be provided. We need indices and we need performance measures where we can actually start to understand what we’re taking about and measure our performance”.
He also touched on the subject of ICOs. He said that “we need to do more mature work around ICOs, so that pos ICO we have a token life cycle”. He even continued saying “and just give investors more clarity, better expectations, more transparency”.
What Needs to Be Changed?
Masters begin enumerating that “we’re not even at the part yet where I’d say institutional investors even started in commodities. Because these things—indexation, custody and so on—aren’t there to bring in those bigger people just yet”.
However, it is true that the crypto market is mainly comprised of retail investors. And slowly but surely, it is building out its infrastructure. For Masters, these are the changes that are needed in order to propel the price of Bitcoin beyond its all-time high last December.
Consensus 2018 Focused More on Tokens
Masters mentioned all this when he was speaking in front of attendees of the Consensus 2018 conference that was held in New York. The event received criticism this year when key figures in the Bitcoin industry mentioned that the conference focused too much on blockchain-based tokens and “buzzwords” instead of taking a closer look at progress.
In fact, Bitcoin core developer Johnathan Corgan mentioned that the atmosphere was like “popular kids (blockchain) are publicly bashing the geeks and nerds (Bitcoin) while privately trying to copy their homework”.
Not All Predictions Are Coming True
But of course, does it mean that Masters had it all figured out all along that Bitcoin’s price will suddenly shoot up anytime soon this year? In reality, this isn’t always the case. If you will look at what Fundstrat Global Advisors co-founder Tom Lee predicted that such conference can get Bitcoin up by 70{4ede17fdd9b4ce8121d01fc4b54913fe84f8215aace504cc657695cefb5329ff}, then it is proof then that predicting Bitcoin’s future is harder than it looks.
Will Bitcoin ever reach $20,000 again this year? Considering regulatory changes and the how things have changed for the crypto market, it is sometimes hard to get optimistic that Bitcoin is ever going to get to that price again soon.
