Bitcoin price prediction 2017

[DavidMama]

Bitcoin is a decentralized computerized cash that, when mined from the first source code, can be utilized to make grinding less installments. It utilizes the twofold record framework and works free of any national bank.

Or if nothing else that is the specialized meaning of Bitcoin. It should be composed in Greek. To disentangle it, we should comprehend that Bitcoin is not only a certain something; it fills two needs. The first is revolved around the possibility of blockchain innovation, and the second around the possibility of cash.

1:Bitcoin as a Platform
The principal thing to know is that Bitcoin is fueled by PCs around the globe. There is no focal specialist. Individuals join the system to tackle math confuses that open, or rather "mine," Bitcoins from the first code. Once the Bitcoin has been discharged, it can be exchanged starting with one place then onto the next in a moment. No exchange costs, no hold up times.

2:Bitcoin as a Currency
Conventional cash—be it the pound sterling, the U.S. dollar, or the Chinese renminbi—is administered by a national bank, a focal specialist. These national banks issue cash at whatever point they feel it is important to animate the economy, yet doing as such can have results. To be specific, hyper-swelling and the loss of obtaining force.


Following quite a while of unpredictability, the Bitcoin price forecast is at long last on an upward trek through 2017 and past. In only five years, the Bitcoin value (BTC value) ascended from a couple of pennies to over $1,000, which ought to give you some sense in the matter of how much cash early speculators made. Yet, don't stress, our Bitcoin price prediction 2017 demonstrates that there is still more space to the upside.

The bank’s annual report “Outrageous Predictions for 2017” was published in December. It stated the expected increase in fiscal spending by Trump’s administration would cause “US growth and inflation to skyrocket, forcing the Federal Reserve to accelerate its hikes and the US dollar to hit the moon.”

Bitcoin is no more unusual to bubbles. Indeed, there's most likely a Tulip-lunacy propelled tribute out there as of now. In any case, tulips can't store esteem long haul, can't be sent to the opposite side of the globe in seconds, and positively can't live on your cell phone.

Bitcoin is an alternate breed in fact. Its changes go back and forth… and return again more grounded than any time in recent memory.

The cost of Bitcoin could hit more than $2,000 in 2017 driven by desires that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may present monetary boost strategies, which could send swelling taking off and push the dollar to record highs, a report from Saxo Bank claims

 

[Moonglow]

Bitcoin is no more unusual to bubbles

 

[martybegan]

View attachment 128772

Bitcoin is a decentralized computerized cash that, when mined from the first source code, can be utilized to make grinding less installments. It utilizes the twofold record framework and works free of any national bank.

Or if nothing else that is the specialized meaning of Bitcoin. It should be composed in Greek. To disentangle it, we should comprehend that Bitcoin is not only a certain something; it fills two needs. The first is revolved around the possibility of blockchain innovation, and the second around the possibility of cash.

1:Bitcoin as a Platform
The principal thing to know is that Bitcoin is fueled by PCs around the globe. There is no focal specialist. Individuals join the system to tackle math confuses that open, or rather "mine," Bitcoins from the first code. Once the Bitcoin has been discharged, it can be exchanged starting with one place then onto the next in a moment. No exchange costs, no hold up times.

2:Bitcoin as a Currency
Conventional cash—be it the pound sterling, the U.S. dollar, or the Chinese renminbi—is administered by a national bank, a focal specialist. These national banks issue cash at whatever point they feel it is important to animate the economy, yet doing as such can have results. To be specific, hyper-swelling and the loss of obtaining force.


Following quite a while of unpredictability, the Bitcoin price forecast is at long last on an upward trek through 2017 and past. In only five years, the Bitcoin value (BTC value) ascended from a couple of pennies to over $1,000, which ought to give you some sense in the matter of how much cash early speculators made. Yet, don't stress, our Bitcoin price prediction 2017 demonstrates that there is still more space to the upside.

The bank’s annual report “Outrageous Predictions for 2017” was published in December. It stated the expected increase in fiscal spending by Trump’s administration would cause “US growth and inflation to skyrocket, forcing the Federal Reserve to accelerate its hikes and the US dollar to hit the moon.”

Bitcoin is no more unusual to bubbles. Indeed, there's most likely a Tulip-lunacy propelled tribute out there as of now. In any case, tulips can't store esteem long haul, can't be sent to the opposite side of the globe in seconds, and positively can't live on your cell phone.

Bitcoin is an alternate breed in fact. Its changes go back and forth… and return again more grounded than any time in recent memory.

The cost of Bitcoin could hit more than $2,000 in 2017 driven by desires that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may present monetary boost strategies, which could send swelling taking off and push the dollar to record highs, a report from Saxo Bank claims

it seems that only 1/2 the translation was done on this bit of copypasta.

Or in other words...

 

[waltky]

Why Bitcoin risks becoming a victim of its own success...

Bitcoin swings as civil war looms
Thu, 20 Jul 2017 - The Bitcoin community must agree how to tackle a slowdown in transaction times to avoid a schism.

The value of the virtual currency Bitcoin has always been volatile. Even so, there has been particular turbulence in recent days as fears of a "civil war" among its adherents first grew and then subsided, although they have not gone away altogether. On Sunday, the value of one bitcoin dropped to about $1,863 (£1,430) before bouncing back to $2,402 on Wednesday, according to data from the news site CoinDesk - still some way off a June high of $3,019.

What's at stake?

Bitcoin risks becoming a victim of its success. The popularity of the financial technology has caused transactions to be processed slower, with some users complaining of having to wait three days or more for confirmation of trades when the backlog was at its worst, in May. Moreover, fees have also risen, hitting a high of $5 per transaction at the start of June. That makes it too costly to justify its use for some purchases, such as buying a pint of lager in a Bitcoin-accepting pub.

There are ways around the problem, but the cryptocurrency's community has been split over which solution to adopt. The risk is that Bitcoin could effectively split in two, with one type becoming incompatible with another, ultimately undermining confidence in the project altogether. Mining, by the way, has become a big business in its own right, with some companies investing in huge "farms" of computers dedicated to the activity. Several of the biggest are based in China.

In simple terms, why does this problem exist?

The issue is that Bitcoin's underlying technology has an in-built constraint: the ledger of past transactions, known as the blockchain, can have only 1MB of data added to it every 10 minutes. To understand why, it's helpful to first understand how Bitcoin works. To authenticate Bitcoin transactions, a procedure called "mining" takes place, which involves volunteers' computers racing to solve difficult mathematical problems. For each problem solved, one block of bitcoins is processed. As a reward, the successful miners are given newly generated bitcoins.

Buying bitcoins has become expensive in itself​

An updated copy of the blockchain database is then copied to all the computers involved in the validation process, which are referred to as "nodes". Bitcoin originally did not have the 1MB/10min blockchain limit, but the feature was added to help defend the technology against denial of service (DoS) attacks, which might overwhelm the blockchain by flooding it with tiny transactions.

So, why not just raise the limit?

 

[waltky]

Don't count bitcoin out...

IMF Chief tells Central Bankers to not Dismiss Bitcoin
September 29, 2017 — Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, has a message for the world's central bankers: Don't be Luddites.

Addressing a conference in London on Friday, Lagarde said virtual currencies, which are created and exchanged without the involvement of banks or government, could in time be embraced by countries with unstable currencies or weak domestic institutions. "In many ways, virtual currencies might just give existing currencies and monetary policy a run for their money," she said. "The best response by central bankers is to continue running effective monetary policy, while being open to fresh ideas and new demands, as economies evolve."

The most high-profile of these digital currencies is bitcoin, which like others can be converted to cash when deposited into accounts at prices set in online trading. Its price has been volatile, soaring over recent years but falling sharply earlier this month on reports that China will order all bitcoin exchanges to close and one of the world's most high-profile investment bankers said bitcoin was a fraud. For now, Lagarde said, digital currencies are unlikely to replace traditional ones, as they are "too volatile, too risky, too energy intensive and because the underlying technologies are not yet scalable."

Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, speaks at the Bank of England conference 'Independence 20 Years On' at the Fishmonger's Hall in London, Britain​

High-profile hacks have also not helped, she noted. One notable failure was that of the Mt. Gox exchange in Japan in February 2014, in which about 850,000 bitcoins were lost, possibly to hackers. Following that, Japan enacted new laws to regulate bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. But in time, she argued, technological innovations could address some of the issues that have kept a lid on the appeal of digital currencies. "Not so long ago, some experts argued that personal computers would never be adopted, and that tablets would only be used as expensive coffee trays, so I think it may not be wise to dismiss virtual currencies," Lagarde said.

Lagarde's comments appear at odds with the views of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who this month described bitcoin as a fraud and said he'd fire any of his traders if they caught dealing in the digital currency. In a speech laying out the potential changes wrought by financial innovations, Lagarde also said that over the next generation, "machines will almost certainly play a larger role" in helping policymakers, offering real-time forecasts, spotting bubbles, and uncovering complex financial linkages. "As one of your fellow Londoners - Mary Poppins - might have said: bring along a pinch of imagination!"

IMF Chief tells Central Bankers to not Dismiss Bitcoin

 

[waltky]

Coinbase halts Bitcoin transactions amid probe into possible insider trading...

Coinbase halts transactions amid probe into possible Bitcoin Cash insider trading
Dec. 20, 2017 -  The Coinbase CEO said employees guilty of insider trading will be immediately terminated and face legal action.

Coinbase is investigating whether its employees took part in insider trading of Bitcoin Cash before the cryptocurrency was introduced to the exchange, according to company officials. Four hours after its introduction to the exchange on Tuesday, Coinbase suspended trading of the digital currency. A message from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the company's ethics policy "prohibits employees and contractors from trading on 'material non-public information,' such as when a new asset will be added to our platform."

Armstrong said in addition to trading restrictions, the policy prohibits communication of material non-public information outside the company, including to friends and family. Hours before Coinbase added Bitcoin Cash to its exchange, Bitcoin Cash's valuation spiked quickly as the price of the cryptocurrency doubled to more than $8,000 in one day. "Given the price increase in the hours leading up the announcement, we will be conducting an investigation into this matter," Armstrong said. "If we find evidence of any employee or contractor violating our policies - directly or indirectly - I will not hesitate to terminate the employee immediately and take appropriate legal action."

Coinbase is investigating whether its employees were involved in insider trading of Bitcoin Cash before the cryptocurrency was introduced to the exchange on Tuesday.​

Buying or selling Bitcoin Cash remained disabled Wednesday morning on Coinbase but customers could transfer the cryptocurrency to other digital wallets. The halt is the latest in a growing list of digital currency fiascos. On Tuesday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suspended trading of stock in The Crypto Company, a service provider linked to cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. The SEC cited concerns of "potentially manipulative transactions" of the company's stock.

About a week earlier, SEC chairman Jay Clayton, issued a warning amid the rise of cryptocurrencies. Clayton said "a number of concerns have been raised regarding the cryptocurrency and ICO markets, including that, as they are currently operating, there is substantially less investor protection than in our traditional securities markets, with correspondingly greater opportunities for fraud and manipulation."

Coinbase halts transactions amid probe into possible Bitcoin Cash insider trading

 

[CrusaderFrank]

$9,560

 

[Richard-H]

It seems to me that while Bitcoin removes the government control of currency - and may someday replace all government currency, it is a truly FIAT currency.

In theory, government issued currency should be a result of (or at least related to) real production and other real economic factors. Admittedly, there have been many times when governments do not act responsibly and issue currency without regard to real economic factors.

However, Bitcoin seems to be a virtual currency. It is issued without regard for real economic factors at all. It's created by computers.

Theoretically, everyone could just install a Bitcoin computer in their homes and quit their jobs. Lots of Bitcoins would be created, but with no productive work being done, bitcoins would be worthless. No productivity, no wealth...no matter how many CPU cycles are used.

Another point is that the creation of Bitcoins and their translation into real currencies, sounds an awful lot like something called COUNTERFEITING. Whats the difference between having a printing press print counterfeit currency and having a Bitcoin computer generate Bitcoins and then trading them for real currency?

Seems to me that Math calculations just don't put bread on the table.

 

[waltky]

The modern tulip craze...

Bitcoin slump sees trades suspended on certain exchanges
22 December 2017 - Bitcoin plunged on Friday, extending a fall that saw the crypto-currency lose almost a third of its value from a record of nearly $20,000 (£15,000).

The crypto-currency's price dipped below $11,000 on Friday, according to the Coindesk exchange website, before recovering to above $13,000. Amid the swings, three Bitcoin-related exchanges suspended certain trades. Bitcoin has had a blistering trip over the past 12 months. Its price at the start of the year was about $1,000. It has skyrocketed since - more than doubling in value since November - drawing interest from major firms as well as private investors. But since Sunday Bitcoin has been on a losing streak, falling back to where it was at the start of December. Analysts said investors should be prepared for such rapid changes, which have characterised the asset from its start. "This is exactly how this asset trades and has done since the beginning," said Nick Colas, co-founder of New York-based DataTrek Research. "It has a lot of volatility and it will for the foreseeable future."

What happened on Friday?

This week's plunge led to a flood of trades that swamped one of Bitcoin's major exchanges, Coinbase, on Friday. A technical slowdown prompted the firm to halt buying and selling twice. The CME and CBOE exchanges in the US also temporarily suspended trading of certain Bitcoin futures contracts, which allow investors to bet on where they expect the price of Bitcoin to be at certain points in the future. The exchanges have automatic brakes that apply once a commodity or asset has moved by a certain amount - as happened in this case.

What sparked the slump?

The market remains driven by sentiment, according to Charles Hayter, founder and chief executive of industry website Cryptocompare. "A manic upward swing led by the herd will be followed by a downturn as the emotional sentiment changes," he said. Some traders would have been cashing in on the spectacular gains made over the year, he added. Concerns about the infrastructure behind crypto-assets may also be spooking investors, said Nick Colas, himself a Bitcoin trader. In recent weeks, markets have been rattled by hacks and allegations of insider trading.

Some argue the crypto-currency craze is just a lot of hot air (yes, we know it is probably helium)​

He attributes some of this week's slump to the launch of a new crypto-asset that came earlier than planned. The surprise temporary shutdown of Coinbase on Friday was the kind of thing that could erode investor confidence, he argued. "It is not OK to just take trading offline randomly through the day," he said. "The robustness of that system is just as important to their confidence... as the price of crypto-currencies themselves." A spokesman for Coinbase said the firm was working around the clock to ensure smooth trading. Friday's suspensions lasted for about two hours in total. "We're doing everything within our power," the spokesman said.

What exactly is Bitcoin?

 

[waltky]

The erratic world of Bitcoin...

Bitcoin’s Roller-coaster Ride May Get Wilder
December 23, 2017 — What’s a bitcoin worth? Lately nobody knows for sure, but after a wild ride Friday, it’s worth a good deal less than it was Thursday.

After losses over the last few days, the digital currency fell as much as 30 percent overnight in Asia, and the action became so frenzied that the website Coinbase suspended trading. It later made up much of that ground, and slumped 9.5 percent to $14,042 Friday, according to the tracking site CoinDesk. Experts are warning that bitcoin is a bubble about to burst, but things might get crazier before it does: A lot of people have heard of bitcoin by now, but very few people own it. “Bubbles burst when the last buyers are in,” said Brett Ewing, chief market strategist for First Franklin. “Who are the last buyers? The general public, unfortunately.”

1,000 people own 40 percent

Ewing said 40 percent of bitcoin belongs to just 1,000 people, and hedge funds and other major investors are going to start buying it soon. But those funds may buy bitcoin and also protect themselves by placing bets that it will fall. Retail investors may just buy it only to see it fall. “I think investors should approach it with caution and I think many people will dive into it not understanding what it is,” he said. As bitcoin skyrocketed this month, the volume of trading was unprecedented as investors hoping to catch a ride up piled in. Prices have risen so fast, the fall on Friday returned the price of bitcoin only to where it was trading two weeks ago.

Broken representation of the Bitcoin virtual currency, placed on a monitor that displays stock graph and binary codes in this illustration picture​

From tea to blockchain overnight

The volatility has created a circuslike atmosphere. Some companies that have added the word “bitcoin” or related terms to their names to get in on the action. The craziest thing is, it’s worked. Long Island Iced Tea Corp. until this week had been known for its peach-, raspberry-, guava-, lemon- and mango-flavored drinks. Then, on Thursday, the company announced a radical rebranding. It’s changing its name to Long Blockchain Corp., shifting its primary focus from iced tea to “the exploration of and investment in opportunities that leverage the benefits of blockchain technology.” Blockchain is a ledger where transactions of digital currencies, like bitcoin, are recorded. Shares in Long Island Iced Tea soared 200 percent in one day. The Hicksville, New York, company did what investors are doing, hitching a ride on a currency that raced from less than $10,000 at the end of November to almost $20,000 on Sunday. And it cost less than $1,000 at the beginning of the year.

Crash every three months

The rise of price of bitcoin, which is still difficult to use if you actually want to buy something, has led to heated speculation about when the bubble might burst. The currency has been, if nothing else, highly elastic, bouncing back every time it crashes, which occurs about once every quarter. It fell 11.5 percent over two days in early December and 21.5 percent over five days in November. Curiosity has now driven bitcoin to the futures market, where investors bet on which direction it will go. Bitcoin futures started trading on two major exchanges, the Cboe and CME, this month. Those futures fell about 8 percent Friday.

Investor beware

If people get burned, it won’t be because they were not warned. The Securities and Exchange Commission put out a statement last week warning investors to be careful with bitcoin and other digital currencies. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission has proposed regulating bitcoin like a commodity, similar to gold or oil. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a financial watchdog, issued a similar warning recently.

Bitcoin’s Roller-coaster Ride May Get Wilder

See also:

Bitcoin Plunges Below $12,000, Heads for Worst Week Since 2013
December 22, 2017 — Bitcoin plunged by a quarter to below $12,000 on Friday as investors dumped the cryptocurrency in manic trading after its blistering ascent to a peak close to $20,000 prompted warnings by experts of a bubble.

It capped a brutal week that had been touted as a new era of mainstream trading for the volatile digital currency when bitcoin futures debuted on CME Group Inc, the world's largest derivatives market on Sunday. Friday's steep fall bled into the U.S. stock market, where shares of companies that have recently lashed their fortunes to bitcoin or blockchain — its underlying technology — took a hard knock in early trading. The biggest and best-known cryptocurrency had seen a staggering twentyfold increase since the start of the year, climbing from less than $1,000 to as high as $19,666 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange on Sunday and to over $20,000 on other exchanges.

Bitcoin has fallen each day since, with losses accelerating on Friday. In the futures market, bitcoin one-month futures on Cboe Global Markets were halted due to the steep price drop, while those trading on the CME hit the limit down threshold. In the spot market, bitcoin fell to as low as $11,159, down more than 25 percent on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange, its largest one-day drop in nearly three years. For the week, it was down around a third — its worst performance since April 2013.

A man walks past an electric board showing exchange rates of various cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (top-L) at a cryptocurrencies exchange in Seoul, South Korea​

"After its parabolic-like rally, a crash was imminent and so it has proved," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com in London. "Investors may have also been put off buying bitcoin at those elevated levels amid repeated warnings from experts about the way it had climbed near $20,000." "A manic upward swing led by the herd will be followed by a downturn as the emotional sentiment changes," said Charles Hayter, founder and chief executive of industry website Cryptocompare in London. "A lot of traders have been waiting for this large correction." "With the end of the year in sight a lot of investors will be taking profits and saying thank you very much and closing their books for the holiday period," he added.

Warnings about the risks of investing in the unregulated market have increased — Denmark's central bank governor called it a "deadly" gamble — and there have been worries about the security of exchanges on which cryptocurrencies are bought and sold. South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Youbit said on Tuesday it is shutting down and is filing for bankruptcy after it was hacked for the second time this year. Coinbase, a U.S. company that runs one of the biggest exchanges and provides digital "wallets" for storing bitcoins, said on Wednesday it would investigate accusations of insider trading, following a sharp increase in the price of a bitcoin spin-off hours before it announced support for it.

Crypto-rivals

 

[Richard-H]

It seems to me that while Bitcoin removes the government control of currency - and may someday replace all government currency, it is a truly FIAT currency.

In theory, government issued currency should be a result of (or at least related to) real production and other real economic factors. Admittedly, there have been many times when governments do not act responsibly and issue currency without regard to real economic factors.

However, Bitcoin seems to be a virtual currency. It is issued without regard for real economic factors at all. It's created by computers.

Theoretically, everyone could just install a Bitcoin computer in their homes and quit their jobs. Lots of Bitcoins would be created, but with no productive work being done, bitcoins would be worthless. No productivity, no wealth...no matter how many CPU cycles are used.

Another point is that the creation of Bitcoins and their translation into real currencies, sounds an awful lot like something called COUNTERFEITING. Whats the difference between having a printing press print counterfeit currency and having a Bitcoin computer generate Bitcoins and then trading them for real currency?

Seems to me that Math calculations just don't put bread on the table.

Is there no one to defend the economic validity of bitcoin!?!?!

That says a lot!