Since the release of bitcoin in 2009, cryptocurrencies have been making waves in the finance industry. Finder has asked fintech specialists to give their 2018 cryptocurrency predictions.
For January, four panelists threw their hats into the ring to predict the movements of some of the top-trending cryptocurrencies: bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH/BCC), Cardano (ADA), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), Stellar Lumens (XLM) and Verge (XVG).
Check out the 2018 cryptocurrency predictions below, as reported by Finder:
In January, our panelists forecast Cardano (ADA) will see the greatest increase (433.17% on average), followed by Stellar Lumens (126.32%). Litecoin, on the other hand, is expected to be the only coin to decrease in value over the next month, down by 2%. However, by the end of 2018, our panelists predict that Litecoin will recover with an increase in value of 24.14%. Verge is the only coin out of all eight expected to decrease in price by the end of the year (-37.99%).
Cryptocurrency average price predictions (USD)
|
Cryptocurrency
|
Current price per unit (as of Jan 3, 2018) (USD)
|
Price prediction on Feb 1, 2018 (USD)
|
Price prediction on Dec 31, 2018 (USD)
|
% change to Feb 1, 2018
|
% change to Dec 31, 2018
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bitcoin (BTC)
|
$15,006.40
|
$16,500.00
|
$33,000.00
|
9.95%
|
119.91%
|
|
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
|
$2,685.15
|
$3,333.33
|
$4,666.67
|
24.14%
|
73.80%
|
|
Cardano (ADA)
|
$0.78
|
$4.17
|
$68.18
|
433.17%
|
8623.99%
|
|
Ethereum (ETH)
|
$881.84
|
$1,122.50
|
$1,333.33
|
27.29%
|
51.20%
|
|
Litecoin (LTC)
|
$255.09
|
$250.00
|
$316.67
|
-2.00%
|
24.14%
|
|
Ripple (XRP)
|
$2.46
|
$2.93
|
$5.06
|
19.00%
|
105.79%
|
|
Stellar Lumens (XLM)
|
$0.55
|
$1.25
|
$7.59
|
126.32%
|
1269.93%
|
|
Verge (XVG)
|
$0.15
|
$0.15
|
$0.09
|
3.32%
|
-37.99%
|
Currently, bitcoin unsurprisingly has the largest market capitalisation, at US$251.79 billion (as at January 3, 2018) and is expected to continue its strength throughout the year. Our panel expect bitcoin to reach US$597.95 billion by the year’s end – a whopping 137.48% increase!
Ripple is predicted to have the second greatest market cap at US$460.00 billion by December 31, 2018,while Cardano is expected to hit US$372.30 billion.
As for the biggest change, Stellar Lumens’s market cap is expected to increase the most by the end of the year — an incredible 1,749.80%, moving from its current US$9.90 billion to US$183.15 billion. The next greatest change is Cardano, currently at US$20.26 billion and expected to increase to US$372.30 billion — or by 1,737.49%.
Expectations for Verge are the lowest, with an expected 40.71% decrease in market cap.
Cryptocurrency average market capitalization predictions (USD)
|
Cryptocurrency
|
Current market cap (as of Jan 3, 2018) (USD)
|
Market cap prediction on Dec 31, 2018 (USD)
|
Market cap % change to Dec 31, 2018
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bitcoin
|
$251.79 billion
|
$597.95 billion
|
137.48%
|
|
Bitcoin Cash
|
$45.35 billion
|
$80.15 billion
|
76.73%
|
|
Cardano
|
$20.26 billion
|
$372.30 billion
|
1,737.49%
|
|
Ethereum
|
$85.30 billion
|
$231.13 billion
|
170.96%
|
|
Litecoin
|
$13.92 billion
|
$16.49 billion
|
18.40%
|
|
Ripple
|
$95.12 billion
|
$460.00 billion
|
383.62%
|
|
Stellar Lumens
|
$9.90 billion
|
$183.15 billion
|
1749.80%
|
|
Verge
|
$2.09 billion
|
$1.24 billion
|
-40.71%
|
Bitcoin’s price, as of January 3, 2018, is US$15,006.40. Panelist Fred Schebesta, CEO and co-founder of finder, has the highest prediction for bitcoin’s value at February 1, 2018, of US$20,000. Both Schebesta and Michael Dunworth, CEO and co-founder of Wyre Inc. recorded the highest prediction for the price of bitcoin by the end of the year, of US$50,000.
The market capitalisation forecast for December 31, 2018, is predicted to be US$1 trillion at the highest end, and US$167.80 billion at the lowest.
|
Name
|
Bitcoin price prediction on Feb 1, 2018 (USD)
|
Bitcoin price prediction on Dec 31, 2018 (USD)
|
Bitcoin market cap predictions on Dec 31, 2018 (USD)
|
Comments
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Clayton Daniel
|
$14,000
|
$10,000
|
$167.81 billion
|
“The original crypto has had some growing problems. The team in charge of these problems have decided not to fix them in some religious devotion to the original white paper. But people are fickle, and won’t stand for these problems much longer considering they have been fixed using other coins. Unfortunately, I can see bitcoin becoming less and less dominant, and potentially we have already seen it’s heights as it’s counterpart Bitcoin Cash looks to take its place in the bitcoin universe”.
|
|
Fred Schebesta
|
$20,000
|
$50,000
|
$1.00 trillion
|
“Bitcoin will roll out the Lightning Network and its fixes, and become the beast it always visioned to be. It’s got huge community and worldwide support to get it there.”
|
|
Joseph Raczynski
|
$16,000
|
$22,000
|
$374.00 billion
|
“If heavy regulation comes, that will kill this for a good 3-6 months.”
|
|
Michael Dunworth
|
$16,000
|
$50,000
|
$850.00 billion
|
“SEC will move in and green light the ETF this year. If that doesn’t happen it’ll be around $8000, if it does happen, it’ll be $50,000+. I know for a fact that a number of banks are kicking the door down because too much money is being left on the table that they can’t capitalize on.”
|
Bitcoin Cash average price prediction (USD)
As of January 3, 2018, Bitcoin Cash’s price was at US$2,685.15. By February 1, 2018, Bitcoin Cash’s price per unit is expected to range from US$3,000 to US$4,000, according to our panelists.
At the end of 2018, the average price of Bitcoin Cash is expected to increase by 73.80%, to US$5,000 at the highest prediction, to US$4,500 at the lowest. The highest market capitalisation prediction for Bitcoin Cash for December 31, 2018, is predicted to be US$84.46 billion by Clayton Daniel, Founder of Sprout Superannuation, compared to the lowest at US$76.00 billion, by Joseph Raczynski, Technologist/Futurist at Joetechnologist and Reuters.
|
Name
|
Bitcoin Cash price prediction on Feb 1, 2018 (USD)
|
Bitcoin Cash price prediction on Dec 31, 2018 (USD)
|
Bitcoin Cash market cap prediction on Dec 31, 2018 (USD)
|
Comments
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Clayton Daniel
|
$3,000
|
$5,000
|
$84.46 billion
|
“Quicker and cheaper bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, I think will end up taking over what bitcoin originally attempted to become: a P2P transaction model. As such, a fair bit of money will come over from bitcoin to Bitcoin Cash as that realisation occurs.”
|
|
Michael Dunworth
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
“I could write for hours about this, I’m very intrigued to see what happens. With the Lightning Network probably going to get more airtime in 2018 on the BTC network, I think this is going to start diminishing the Bitcoin Cash conversation. No side in the battle of BTC vs BCH, but I just think on a technical level, awareness and all things included, that’s how we’ll start seeing it play out.”
|
|
Fred Schebesta
|
$4,000
|
$4,500
|
$80.00 billion
|
“I think Bitcoin Cash’s place is very unclear in the future.”
|
|
Joseph Raczynski
|
$3,000
|
$4,500
|
$76.00 billion
|
“If heavy regulation comes, that will kill this for a good 3-6 months.”
|
Ethereum average price prediction (USD)
Ethereum’s price was at US$881.84, as of January 3, 2018. The price is expected to reach between US$940 and US$1,500 by February 1, 2018. Ethereum is predicted to increase by 51.20% by the end of the year, with the lowest prediction being a drop to US$500 predicted by Daniel, ranging up to a highest prediction of US$2,000 by Schebesta.
As for its market capitalisation by December 31, 2018, the highest prediction is by Schebesta at US$500 billion, compared to the lowest of US$48.38 billion by Daniel.
|
Name
|
Ethereum price prediction on Feb 1, 2018 (USD)
|
Ethereum price prediction on Dec 31, 2018 (USD)
|
Ethereum market cap prediction on Dec 31, 2018 (USD)
|
Comments
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Clayton Daniel
|
$1,000
|
$500
|
$48.38 billion
|
“I think just like bitcoin, people will be looking elsewhere for the ‘next big thing’. Ethereum has performed outrageously well over the last 12 months, but there are a handful of other pieces of tech that the market is anticipating to perform even better. The Crypto world can be very fickle, and I don’t see Ethereum lasting the coming onslaught of new pieces of tech.”
|
|
Michael Dunworth
|
$1,050
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
“Same as BTC, large ETF opportunities to come, but we’ll see if that happens. I think this year we could very well see the utility of the blockchain come to fruition through EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine). The aggressiveness of the dev team is impressive to watch given how high the stakes are. I believe that ETH market cap can overtake bitcoin, but only if a few things fall into place. Strong execution of the 2017/16 ICO’s, ETF’s in place, and agility to the technical hurdles like anonymity, scalability. Bullish.”
|
|
Fred Schebesta
|
$1,500
|
$2,000
|
$500.00 billion
|
“Ethereum new rollouts will unlock a new generation of it. I think it will be huge.”
|
|
Joseph Raczynski
|
$940
|
$1,500
|
$145.00 billion
|
N/A
|
Litecoin average price prediction (USD)
Litecoin’s value was US$255.09 per unit, as of January 3, 2018. It’s the only coin expected to decrease this month, with two panelists predicting the price will fall by up to US$50 by February 1, 2018. The highest forecast for the month is Schebesta at US$300.
For the rest of the year, however, most are expecting to see an increase to Litecoin’s unit price. The lowest prediction is US$100 by Daniel, while the highest sits at US$450 by Raczynski. The market capitalisation value by December 31, 2018, is expected to range from US$5.46 billion up to US$24 billion.
|
Name
|
Litecoin price prediction on Feb 1, 2018 (USD)
|
Litecoin price prediction on Dec 31, 2018 (USD)
|
Litecoin market cap prediction on Dec 31, 2018 (USD)
|
Comments
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Clayton Daniel
|
$200
|
$100
|
$5.46 billion
|
“Originally built to support bitcoin, the reasons to keep Litecoin around are diminishing every day. Litecoin had it’s run, and no longer serves any real purpose. It will slowly whittle away.”
|
|
Michael Dunworth
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
“Litecoin I don’t really dabble around with, but I think something that’s really promising is this year we’ll see a punch-up in Litecoin via Atomic Swaps. People who are on the BTC network will jump cross-chain and that could inherently scale Litecoin’s market cap and value, tying it closer as the “silver to bitcoin’s gold”. Lightning implementation is critical with this, but I see this happening this year, and Atomic Swaps becoming a new sexy thing for the blockchain eco-system.”
|
|
Fred Schebesta
|
$300
|
$400
|
$20.00 billion
|
“I think Litecoin’s place will be unclear with all of these new launches.”
|
|
Joseph Raczynski
|
$250
|
$450
|
$24.00 billion
|
“If heavy regulation comes, that will kill this for a good 3-6 months.”
|
Ripple average price prediction (USD)
The current price of Ripple is US$2.46 per XRP, as of January 3, 2018. By February 1, 2018, the lowest prediction is US$1.20 by Dunworth, compared to the highest prediction of US$5 by Schebesta.
By the end of the year, it’s expected to reach a 105.79% increase, an average forecast to be US$5.06. However, Dunworth expects it to decrease to US$0.50 by December 31, 2018, while Daniel sees it remaining steady at US$2.50. The highest prediction is by Schebesta at US$10 followed by Raczynski at US$7.25.
The current market capitalisation for Ripple is US$95.12 billion. All the panelists are expecting it to increase by December 31, 2018, from the lowest prediction of US$100 billion by Daniel to the highest of US$1 trillion by Schebesta.
|
Name
|
Ripple price prediction on Feb 1, 2018 (USD)
|
Ripple price prediction on Dec 31, 2018 (USD)
|
Ripple market cap prediction on Dec 31, 2018 (USD)
|
Comments
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Clayton Daniel
|
$2.50
|
$2.50
|
$100.00 billion
|
“Ripple has put on over $100 billion in the last four weeks. This kind of momentum cannot be maintained. Most of the banking partnerships have existed for quite some time, and there is no reason why it’s intense growth has occurred. I expect a bit of a pullback, but cryptos typically maintain most of their price after a clawback. No one in their right mind would attempt a 12-month prediction on Ripple right now, so I’ve opted for the same price.”
|
|
Michael Dunworth
|
$1.20
|
$0.50
|
N/A
|
“We know the team there very well. Good friends work there, and they’re doing some good things for themselves by way of finding a stronger path to execution. I think like many crypto projects, there’s a lot of implied utility in their valuations, that is actually yet to come to fruition. However, they’re working hard, but I think that pulling some air out of the room for them is going to be a consolidation requirement. Two steps back, three steps forward.”
|
|
Fred Schebesta
|
$5.00
|
$10.00
|
$1.00 trillion
|
“I think Ripple will go up dramatically and then crash. And then recover again. It’s got lots of buzz around it, but I think the proof of whether it has long-term value is yet to be seen.”
|
|
Joseph Raczynski
|
$3.01
|
$7.25
|
$280.00 billion
|
“Much of this is contingent on an exchange like Coinbase picking this up. If they do, then it will take off. If heavy regulation comes, that will kill this for a good 3-6 months.”
|
This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of cryptocurrencies or a recommendation to invest. Historic performance is no guarantee of future returns. As an investment class, cryptocurrencies are speculative investments and investing in cryptocurrencies involves significant risks – they are highly volatile, vulnerable to hacking and capital loss and sensitive to secondary activity. Before investing you should obtain advice and decide whether the potential return outweighs the risks.