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Bitcoin Price ‘Won’t Stop’ At $30K As Reaction To Difficulty Begins

Anja van Oosterhout | Sep 13, 2019 | 08:00

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Bitcoin’s current price cycle should obliterate current all-time price highs and even exceed $30,000, commentators say as new data surfaces.

2018 Difficulty Low Can Propel Bitcoin To $31K

In an ongoing debate on social media, well-known figures from the Bitcoin 00 community argue that BTC/USD is just as the start of its next parabolic run. 

The basis for the optimism is a chart by the Twitter analyst PlanB, which has forecast a $30,000 Bitcoin price for 2021. 

“When we pass 20k, I don’t see us stopping at 30…,” Lightning Torch organizer Hodlonaut summarized about Bitcoin’s likely trajectory. 

PlanB’s chart takes BTC/USD price and plots its percentage increase versus the previous low in network mining difficulty. 

Difficulty refers to the complexity of equations miners need to solve in order to validate Bitcoin transactions. The higher the difficulty, the more implied interest there is in Bitcoin mining.

Difficulty has made consistent gains throughout 2019, having spent the second half of last year in retreat as markets fell. Bottoming out in December, the metric’s U-turn was followed in April by a fresh Bitcoin price bull run. 

For PlanB, such behavior is consistent with historical moves for Bitcoin, and should mean current levels around $10,000 are just the tip of the iceberg. 

Rien ne va plus#bitcoin 🚀 pic.twitter.com/epwODQ40cm

— PlanB (@100trillionUSD) September 10, 2019

According to the projections, BTC/USD should peak at 1000% of its price in December 2018, which equates to around $31,000. 

“Bull Markets start at Difficulty ATL .. Enter the Green Zone!” PlanB wrote in accompanying comments on a previous data set this month. 

Less Volatile And A New All-Time BTC High

The optimistic target in fact points to a conspicuous drop in volatility. 1,000% is notably more manageable than previous cycles in 2013 and 2017, which produced highs of 1,000,000% and 50,000% respectively.

Nevertheless, action so far has been muted, something the projections also account for. At the start of each cycle, price moves up slowly, gathering pace as it completes. 

As Bitcoinist reported, commentators currently assume the landscape will remain flatter than in recent months, with potential disruption coming from the launch of institutional trading platform Bakkt. 

A decision in October on whether to allow two Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to launch in the US could also impact sentiment considerably. Operators have tried since March 2017 to get the go-ahead from US regulators, something which could open the door to ETFs involving other tokens such as Ethereum 00.

What do you think about Bitcoin passing $30,000 in 2021? Let us know in the comments below!

Images via Shutterstock, Twiter @100trillionUSD