Will 2018 be the best year for cryptocurrencies?

We want to share five reasons why 2018 could be the best year for cryptocurrencies, and why the author of the article (TenX project founder Julian Hosp) is investing huge sums in them right now.

1. Continued work on solving the Bitcoin scalability problem

Bitcoin (BTC) is the most important cryptocurrency. Most fiat money that is invested in crypto businesses flows through Bitcoin, so this digital currency influences the entire market. 

I actually believe that Bitcoin could rise 150% this year. Why? Because BTC is still the dominant currency. Bitcoin has the largest user base, and this is also one of its main problems - Bitcoin is extremely inefficient when it comes to network scalability. As the number of users grows, transactions become slower and more expensive. 

Bitcoin can currently handle 6 or 7 transactions per second. When you compare this to Visa, which can process thousands of transactions per second, the point of view of Bitcoin's critics becomes clear. 

The same problem leads to higher commission fees. How to solve this problem? Lightning Network technology promises to radically reduce the speed and cost of Bitcoin transfers. And this technology has recently been put into operation. In the coming months, BTC users will see how much more transactions are possible, and most importantly, the Lightning Network has no fees at all. 

A similar project called Roodstock promises to release a similar product for the Ethereum blockchain. Projects like this could significantly increase the value of Bitcoin. I would even venture to say that its price will rise by no less than 60-70%, and maybe even more. 

    2. Regulated ICOs

Like last year, Initial Coin Offerings will impact the Ethereum network because ICOs require a lot of Ether coins. This will fuel the demand for this digital currency. More legitimate ICOs will cause more interest in Ethereum, and we are already seeing this with examples of coin offerings from Telegram or Kodak.

This means that Ethereum's market capitalization could grow to $200 billion by the end of the year. The price of this cryptocurrency could theoretically reach $2000.. While other platforms may see similar growth, I believe Ethereum will be the top altcoin of 2018. 

3. Regulation

Many people believe that regulators harm the market, but this is a short-sighted view. Going forward, companies need established rules that serve the purpose of legal stability. The regulator gives more confidence to customers and investors.

We saw something similar in Japan when the government began regulating Bitcoin. At first the market fell, but after a while it grew. The same thing happened in Australia. Other countries may want to follow suit - I think we will see similar changes in South Korea and some other countries - and I have no doubt that the result will be no different from what Japan and Australia have demonstrated. 

4. The Convenience of Bitcoin

There are already many startups that issue debit cards that people can use to spend Bitcoin. This means that the number of users and sellers will increase dramatically in 2018. This will improve the reputation of cryptocurrencies, more and more companies will start trusting them. Firms that will be able to implement promising projects this year will become leaders in their sector, while the rest will most likely simply go bankrupt. 

5. Institutional Investors

It is estimated that about $10-12 billion has been invested in the cryptocurrency market at the moment, but this is nothing compared to what investments institutional funds can offer. Since the initial investment was able to lift Bitcoin's market capitalization to $500 billion, another $10-12 billion - pennies for some funds - could double the market's value this year.

To sum it up

 The likelihood that all five factors will manifest simultaneously  is not one hundred percent. I see a probability of 70-75%. And each of these factors can increase Bitcoin's market capitalization from %50 to %100. If you combine these factors, the market growth potential could be %700, %800.. Although this is not as strong an increase as last year, in absolute terms the numbers are much higher. Therefore, 2018 could be the most successful year for cryptocurrencies. Moreover, this growth will not be built on hype, but on a solid foundation. 

According to https://www.cnbc.com