Bitcoin is a decentralized financial technology with the potential to replace fiat currencies worldwide. The first cryptocurrency ever created, Bitcoin has spawned an entire industry and thousands upon thousands of altcoins in its image. Because of its potential, Bitcoin price forecasts can reach up to $1 million.
What is bitcoin and why is it rising?
Bitcoin was created by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto to be the first peer-to-peer electronic payment system. Because Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer system, it is considered decentralized and does not require a third party – such as a bank or government – to confirm or monitor transactions. Instead, Bitcoin transactions are confirmed by miners, who are rewarded by BTC for each block verified and added to the blockchain. This reward encourages miners to continue confirming transactions and growing the Bitcoin network.
Every four years, the Bitcoin block reward is halved, so miners receive less and less BTC over time. This is what the crypto industry calls a halving. Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million BTC and, combined with the halving of each block, gives Bitcoin a deflationary aspect and provides it with a scarcity similar to that of gold. In fact, Bitcoin has been commonly referred to as digital gold.
Bitcoin price forecasts
Because Bitcoin is so powerful and has such great potential, its predicted value and estimated growth could be astronomical. Speculation from crypto analysts and industry experts suggests that Bitcoin’s long-term value could reach more than $100,000 or even $1 million per BTC in the future. But when will Bitcoin reach such prices? This BTC price forecasting guide will help investors answer questions such as “how far will Bitcoin go” and “what could Bitcoin be worth in 10 years”.
Bitcoin’s price history
Bitcoin began life virtually worthless, with a value of well under a penny when Bitcoin Core’s client code was released into the wild. Years later, it traded at over $1,000 and began to be seen as a serious financial asset with long-term potential.
In 2017, Bitcoin’s potential took the world by storm, as many became wealthy beyond their wildest dreams when Bitcoin reached its former record of $20,000 per BTC coin. Major media outlets carried BTC news story after story, prompting retail investors to rush out and buy the asset. But once 2018 arrived, a major trend change occurred for bitcoin, and the price began to fall.
Due to bitcoin’s volatility, the market price fell 80% to $3,000, where it eventually bottomed out, leading many to wonder whether bitcoin would rise in value again. Others knew that the bitcoin price would rise again, and opened long positions as the bear market bottomed out. In early 2019, bitcoin growth resumed, and a powerful rally brought the bitcoin price out of the bear market trough, rising above $10,000 to $14,000 before falling back to $6,500. In 2020, the Black Thursday crash took bitcoin below $4,000.
But stimulus efforts by the US and other countries to combat the pandemic inflated the money supply, putting Bitcoin in the financial spotlight. In 2020, the money supply reached an all-time high of $20,000. In 2021, the cryptocurrency experienced a new uptrend, reaching its all-time high of $42,000. With no real resistance above the cryptocurrency is once again in price discovery mode and the limit has been reached.
Will bitcoin rise again?
Bitcoin was conceived by Satoshi Nakamoto in the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis, as a means of putting power and control back into the hands of users and out of the reach of banks and governments who have long controlled the flow of money.
These unique properties would make bitcoin not only a borderless transaction currency, but also a store of value, and even a safe-haven asset in times of economic crisis. Together, all these aspects make Bitcoin an incredible financial technology with the potential to change the world.
As a result, Bitcoin’s expected growth should be substantial, reflecting its true value as a global currency. The price of Bitcoin today is trading at around $35,000, but given the volatility of this asset and its propensity for parabolic runs, tomorrow’s Bitcoin price could double from here or correct by 80%.
