Ran NeuNer says Bitcoin won’t end the year at $50,000. The host of the CryptoTrader show on CNBC tweeted in February 2018 that the top-ranked cryptocurrency would end 2018 on a high note but has now retracted that prediction.
Current Market Conditions
On Thursday (November 1, 2018), NeuNer posted a pinned tweet stating that BTC wouldn’t reach $50,000 by the end of 2018. This tweet was a follow-up to his previously pinned tweet on the matter where he predicted BTC finishing the year at $50,000.
For the record , I am pinning this tweet. Bitcoin will not finish 2018 at $50 000.😂 https://t.co/CAZUABJ1Hk
— Ran Neuner (@cryptomanran) November 1, 2018
At the start of 2018, price predictions seemed all the rage and why not? BTC stormed to a new all-time high (ATH) of $19,700 in mid-December. With cryptocurrency mania at its peak, several commentators lent their voices to the expanding set of virtual currency price predictions.
Suffice to say that 2018 has seen a massive fall in digital currency prices. BTC is down by more than 60 percent from its ATH. Some other coins have even plummeted by as much as 90 percent.
Contracting Volatility
NeuNer’s retraction is symptomatic of the prevailing consensus among stakeholders that BTC won’t reach the heights of 2017. Since mid-2018, the price of the top-ranked cryptocurrency has remained relatively stable in the low to mid-$6,000 range.
Bitcoin’s volatility also continues to contract and is presently at its lowest level in two years. The emergence of positive developments like Fidelity and Bakkt failed to register a blip in the asset’s price. Seeing the prevailing trend, it is perhaps unsurprising to see people like NeuNer begin to concede that BTC won’t experience any price boom in 2018.
Bear Market Likely to Continue into 2019
Recently, BitMEX chief Arthur Hayes declared that Bitcoin’s sideways bear market could continue into 2019. According to Hayes, the present price action might last for another 12 to 18 months.
This assertion flies in the face of his predictions earlier in the year. Like NeuNer, Hayes said BTC would reach $50,000 by the end of 2018.
It remains to be seen if others like Tom Lee, Julian Hosp, Dave Chapman, Alexis Ohanian, and Philip Nunn will follow NeuNer in changing their predictions. These commentators all gave bullish forecasts for BTC’s price ranging from $20,000 all the way up to $100,000.
Will other permabulls who predicted a new Bitcoin ATH before the end of 2018 follow NeuNer in retracting their bullish predictions? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Images courtesy of Twitter/@cryptomanran, Shutterstock, and Coinmarketcap.