Bitcoin has endured an uncomfortable conclusion to 2018. BTC lost 5.4 percent on Thursday, December 13, and slumped almost 4 percent from the previous Friday, according to Bloomberg data. But despite the crypto continuing its five-week losing streak, an industry insider remains sanguine about its prospects.
The world’s largest crypto is currently valued at $3,252 (£2,589) as of 12pm GMT on December according to CoinDesk.com – a value unseen since September 2017.
And where bitcoin goes, others follow.
Cryptos including ethereum and bitcoin cash followed suit, experiencing losses against the USD.
Major cryptos have plummeted by 50 to 80 percent against bitcoin over the last six months.
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Thomas Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors had in May predicted a crypto rally to $25,000 (£19,901) by 2018’s end.
And despite things not playing quite in his favour, Mr Lee remains resolute.
Bitcoin should be valued between $13,800 and $14,800 (£10,985 and £11,781), he said.
This prediction is based on the quantity of wallets, usage per account and supply factors, he said on Thursday.
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His explanation for the divergence include 2017’s explosive rally, a “meltdown” in the macroeconomic climate and treasury sales during initial coin offerings.
“Fair value is significantly higher than the current price of Bitcoin,” he wrote.
“In fact, working backwards, to solve for the current price of Bitcoin, this implies crypto wallets should fall to £13,533million from £39,800milliion currently.”
BTC’s acceptance as an asset class and increased adoption are among the factors that will catalyse the drive through 2019.
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If Bitcoin wallets approach just seven percent of Visa’s 4.5 billion account holders, fair value would be $150,000 per Bitcoin according to his model, he said.
“We are tired of people asking us about target prices,” he said, declining to update his year-end forecast.
Comparing Bitcoin to other payment systems in terms of social network value, Mr Lee believed in ten years bitcoin could be worth $10 million per coin.
Total crypto reportedly gained 17 million verified users in 2018.
In the first three quarters of this year the number of ID-verified cryptocurrency users reportedly nearly doubled, climbing from 18 million to 35 million.
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