Bitcoin Price Predictions for 2019 & Beyond

• Cryptocurrency investment firm Pantera Capital has predicted that Bitcoin will reach  $67,500 by the end of 2019
• Many Bitcoin forecasts for 2019 rest on the assumption that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will approve at least one Bitcoin ETF by February
• Rising Bitcoin mining costs are leading some to assert that Bitcoin will need to rise above $20,000 for miners to stay in profit

Bitcoin Price Predictions for 2019 – Could Bitcoin Hit $50,000?

Could Bitcoin soon retest $20,000? According to cryptocurrency investment firm Pantera Capital, the answer is yes. Moreover, Pantera believes that Bitcoin will reach $67,500 in value before 2019 is over. The only question is, just how much weight does Pantera’s Bitcoin forecast carry?

Using Bitcoin Mining Costs to Predict Future Prices

At face value, Bitcoin price predictions by the likes of Pantera are meaningless. No one can predict cryptocurrency market conditions a year from now. However, Pantera Capital is not the only financial institution predicting a future Bitcoin price of $60K.

Earlier in May, market research group Fundstrat predicted that Bitcoin will test $60,000 in 2019. To arrive at this figure, Fundstrat proposed a new Bitcoin price metric. Namely, a parameter which compares Bitcoin prices to current Bitcoin mining costs.

Why Bitcoin Mining Matters

The Bitcoin blockchain depends on Bitcoin mining for its survival. Without miners, transactions would not be processed and traffic on the blockchain would grind to a halt. There is just one problem.

Bitcoin Mining is Expensive

Contrary to popular belief, mining Bitcoin isn’t easy. To get started today, an individual would need to invest $2,700 – $7,000 in the latest mining hardware. Hardware would then need to be run 24/7 to earn the equivalent of $4.21 in Bitcoin per day.

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty & Energy Costs

To make matters worse for miners, Bitcoin becomes more difficult to mine as time progresses. This means that miners need to continually invest in newer hardware, while also factoring in local energy prices.

By factoring together hardware investment costs, energy costs, and increasing mining difficulty, Fundstrat has predicted that Bitcoin will need to rise to $40,000 – $60,000 by fall 2019. If not, miners will start incurring significant losses.

Bitcoin Halving

As well becoming more difficult to mine as time progresses, Bitcoin also becomes scarcer. This is thanks to ‘Bitcoin Halving.’ Namely, a periodic event which sees Bitcoin mining rewards cut by half.

To date, there have been two Bitcoin halving events. The first in 2012, saw the Bitcoin price double to $1,000. The second in 2016, saw prices once again double. This is important as the next halving event is just 2-years away.

Even Economical Bitcoin Forecasts Good News for Investors

Bitcoin mining costs and halving, mean that Bitcoin needs to reach $40,000 – $60,000 by 2020 for Bitcoin to survive. This being the case, a 2019 Bitcoin price prediction of $67,500, may well prove accurate. The only question is, will the altcoin market manage ride Bitcoin’s coattails all the way up to $50K? – Or will the future be dominated exclusively by Bitcoin alone?