Lonjakan harga Bitcoin yang signifikan sepanjang 2017 diprediksi akan semakin tak terbendung pada tahun depan. Malah diperkirakan bisa mencapai Rp 814 juta.
Tahun 2017 seakan menjadi masa pembuktian bagi Bitcoin sebagai cryptocurrency yang paling diperhitungkan. Salah satu klimaksnya terjadi saat mata uang digital tersebut behasil mencatat rekor tertinggi dengan nilai USD 19.796 (Rp 268 Juta) pada 17 Desember lalu.
Para ahli pun memprediksi bahwa dengan pencapaian tersebut, Bitcoin berpotensi mencatatkan nilai yang jauh lebih tinggi lagi tahun depan.
"Bitcoin dapat mencapai USD 60 Ribu (Rp 814 Juta) pada Desember 2018," ujar Mike Dumont, Senior Editor Bitcoin.com
The same thing was also expressed by Mohammad Tayeb as COO Medicalchain, a platform provider of medical services based on blockchain.
"Bitcoin can touch USD 50,000 next year, even more, I think fewer people will be surprised by the news about Bitcoin's surge," he said.
Longer-term predictions are made by Jeremy Epstein, CEO of Never Stop Marketing, start-up Blockchain-based marketing firm.
"With this year's record, I would not be surprised if Bitcoin could hit $ 250,000 or more in five years, yet there is still a 50:50 chance of a big success or a total failure, Epstein explained.
Can not be denied, the growth of Bitcoin value in 2017 is arguably fantastic. However, this criticism of the cryptocurrency is analogous to the 'bubble' (because it continues to fly high but can 'erupt' anytime) is still quite attached to the digital currency.
As revealed by Armindo Araújo, Head of Financial Division of NATIXIS, the French bank. "Yes, Bitcoin is a" bubble. "The demand for it will keep it going up and up, and I'm pretty curious when it will continue," he said.
"In my opinion, Bitcoin's position in the next year will be determined by the regulation and its application in the global market," Araújo added. Interestingly, the statement was denied by Dumont.
He said that there are three factors that make Bitcoin not a 'bubble', namely the limited supply of Bitcoin up to 21 million, media coverage and investor interest keeps people going to buy it, and its capitalization is still very small compared to conventional investment.
Epstein also expressed similar things. "The word 'bubble' is only used by people who do not understand Bitcoin itself," he said.
Dumont and Tayeb also have the view that Bitcoin and other digital currencies will continue to grow in the future.
"Cryptocurrency is becoming an advanced evolution of the form of money in the digital world, an enhancement of the paper form," Dumont said.
"We are looking at the decentralization process towards cryptocurrency, digital currency will continue to grow in 2018, as well as in 2017," said Tayyeb.