Thomas Lee, who heads research at Fundstrat, is doubling his previous price target for Bitcoin, believing that the cryptocurrency will reach $11,500 in mid-2018.
It’s been a wild ride for Bitcoin in 2017. When the year started, the cryptocurrency was worth $800, but the value of Bitcoin has exploded since then as it currently sells for $8221. Many individuals are quite bullish on Bitcoin and expect that it will continue to rise in value. Hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz recently said that Bitcoin will reach $10,000 by the end of the year. Now Thomas Lee, head of research at Fundstrat, says that Bitcoin will go even higher in 2018.
Bulls on Parade
Just a few days after Mike Novogratz made his Bitcoin prediction, Thomas Lee told his clients that Bitcoin will reach $11,500 by the middle of 2018. This is a significant 40% increase from Bitcoin’s current price, and this estimate doubles Lee’s previous price target.
Lee had issued a warning in early November that the Bitcoin surge from $3,500 to $7,000 would likely cause a short-term pullback. In his most recent note to clients, Thomas Lee said that “The November slump cleaned up weak hands,” and that “We no longer feel caution is warranted.”
How High Will Bitcoin Go?
Of course, Bitcoin hasn’t taken a straight ride from $800 to its current value. There have been three different slumps of more than 25% this year, but each slump was followed by a significant rally. (Usually after I had exchanged my Bitcoin.)
As for the near future, Lee recommends steady buying of Bitcoin at its current levels. Fundstrat also raised its price target for the Bitcoin Investment Trust, a security that gives Bitcoin exposure to interested investors. As for how high Bitcoin will go, that’s anybody’s guess. The digital currency shows no signs of slowing down, and the fact that it’s a fixed supply with increased demand should translate into greater and greater valuation.
Then there’s the fact that more and more financial institutions are jumping on board the Bitcoin bandwagon. Entities from JPMorgan to the Gold Fund are getting involved in cryptocurrency and are telling their clients to invest (with some notable exceptions like Jamie Dimon).
Some possible hurdles for Bitcoin include China’s current mining ban and that Russia’s Minister of Communications and Mass Media, Nikolai Nikiforov, recently remarked that it was highly likely that Bitcoin would never be legalized within the Russian Federation. Still, Bitcoin has proven itself against the odds many times before.
Do you agree with Thomas Lee that Bitcoin will reach $11,500 by the middle of 2018? Do you think it will go even higher? Let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of Flickr and Bitcoinist archives.