One of the most optimistic predictors of Wall Street believes that the rate of bitcoin can "easily" double or even triple this year.
In August 2017, the chief analyst of Fundstrat Global Advisors, Tom Lee, said that before the end of the year, the bitcoin rate would rise above $ 10,000, and the market for crypto currency will outperform the securities market. As it turned out, Lee underestimated the potential of bitcoin more than 2 times: in December the exchange rate of the crypto currency overcame the level of $ 20,000, then dropped to a quarter.
Despite the recent decline, Lee believes that the segment of the crypto currency is waiting for a great future.
"Even making a risk adjustment, I think bitcoin will easily surpass S & P," Lee said in a conversation with CNBC. "In the long term, I regard bitcoin as a new means of accumulation."
As the income of the younger generation grows, bitcoin will increasingly displace gold from the market, Lee believes.
Experts have repeatedly said that bitcoin can, at least in part, become a substitute for gold, building on this assumption its optimistic forecasts. A similar opinion is shared by Lee.
"If bitcoin gets 5% of the gold market, its rate will reach $ 50,000," Lee said. Thus, in order for the analyst's prediction to come true, the price of bitcoin should rise by more than 200% relative to the current values.
In the short term, Lee says, bitcoin will be able to return to December highs.
"I think by the middle of 2018 we will be heading to this value. That's why now we're talking about a price of $ 20,000, "Lee explained. "If in the first half of the year bitcoin can approach the level of $ 20,000, then in the second half you can count on an even more confident movement."
"Therefore, I think that bitcoin should be kept throughout the year," he concluded.