It was exactly one month ago on October 20th that Bitcoin reached over US$6000, a record-breaking figure at the time. Now, Bitcoin holders are celebrating once again as the coin has fattened further, reaching above US$8000 for the first time ever. Bitcoin even went as high as US$8101 on November 19 at 20:19 UTC; at the time of writing, a single Bitcoin is worth US$8020.
This latest move is in tandem with the predictions of Goldman Sachs technical analysts Sheba Jafari and Jack Abromovitz, who predicted in early November that BTC would soon rise over US$8000. According to a Business Insider report, Jafari and Abromovitz sent a memo to clients saying that Bitcoin’s break through the US$6000 since its low in July “indicated potential for an impulsive advance, one that could reach at least 7,941.”
The memo also said that this new level is “the minimum target for a 3rd of 5-waves up and should therefore be a level from which to watch for signs of a consolidation," an indication that “Bitcoin has potential to run further over time,” although the next big upward migration may not happen for a little while.
Bitcoin is Alive and Well
The upward move comes after a short period of intense drama for Bitcoin. Just last weekend, BTC dipped below US$6000 for the first time since late October.
The dip was the result of the cancellation of the SegWit2x Fork and the ensuing drama. After the cancellation, Bitcoin Cash veritably exploded - the currency rose from below US$1000 to over US$2400 within just a few days. Big names in the Bitcoin world, including Roger Ver and Gavin Andresen, publicly tweeted their support for Bitcoin Cash as 'the real Bitcoin'.
The meteoric rise of Bitcoin Cash and the affirmation by Bitcoin bigwigs sent some users into a panic. The Bitcoin network was suddenly experiencing so many transactions at once that it became 'clogged' - some transactions were reportedly taking up to 72 hours to confirm and costing up to US$100; Bitcoin fell further.
Then, somewhat mysteriously, Bitcoin Cash fell - dramatically. On the Monday following the giant spike in BCH, the coin tumbled down roughly 50% to around US$1200, a support that it has managed to maintain (for the most part).
What’s Next for Bitcoin?
It seems that at least for now, Bitcoin is still the real Bitcoin. If last weekend’s events taught us anything, it is that Bitcoin is formidable. Since the Bitcoin Cash scare, Bitcoin’s market cap has added more than US$10 billion to its market cap, rising above US$133 billion.
Some in the financial world believe that Bitcoin could be worth within the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars within a matter of years, including Wences Casares, member of the PayPal board of directors and CEO of the Xapo Bitcoin wallet. At a the Consensu 2017 conference in New York in May, Casares publicly announced his prediction that a single bitcoin could be worth US$1 million within the next five to ten years.
Additionally, Business Insider reported in May that Peter Smith, co-founder and CEO of Blockchain, and Jeremy Liew, the first investor in Snapchat, said in a joint presentation that they believed Bitcoin could reach US$500,000 by the year 2030.
In any case, Bitcoin has risen roughly 10 times in value in the past year (on November 20th of last year, a single Bitcoin was worth about US$750). If it can manage to repeat the same trend, or even top it, we’re really going to the moon, folks.
