Cryptocurrencies have gained attention from investors, particularly with the uprise of the coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, during the last years. For instance, Bitcoin was approximately $440 in December 2015 and $2,600 in July 2017 at press time. The same coin was $9,500 in November 29, 2017 and is now around $6,365.

This rise in the past two years is comparable to Bitcoin’s main competitor, Ethereum, in the cryptocurrency world. 3 Ethereum price forecasts for 2018 is to be addressed in this article. Two years ago, the Ethereum was worth $11 and is currently just under $200. However, please do not forget that it was $1,400 just a couple of months ago. Exercise extreme caution when you invest in this cryptocurrency.

Ethereum Price Forecasts for 2018

Note that short-term forecasts of the Ethereum’s price would be highly challenging. Novices should note that the Ethereum’s price is quite volatile and can lose and gain back 25% in just 48 hours. It was $441 two months ago, $275 a month ago, and is now $195. The past nine months has revealed a large volatility for Ethereum, from $195 to $770, with $1,440 in early January 2018 and $195 currently.

Ethereum’s novelty, note that it was launched in 2014, and such volatility compromise any technical analysis intended for forecasting Ethereum’s price for 2018. All predictions seem somehow shady. Thus, the following forecasts are configured as long-termed.

1. Ethereum will hit the $2,000 mark (even $5,000 as far as I’m concerned)

The earlier version of this Ethereum prediction of mine was badly criticized by my colleagues, but Ethereum price will reach $2,000 within the next three months. In my judgement, Ethereum’s price can hit even the $5,000 level by the end of this year. In January 2017, Ethereum was $10, and now it is approximately $194 and it saw $770. Way lower than $5,000, isn’t it? Wait until December 2018 and see for yourself.

Note that it should have 200 billion worth of a market cap in order to hit $2,000. The level of $2,000 can take even just one day. This is how I see things.

A website called Investing Haven advocates the Ethereum’s rice should hit $1,000 possibly by 2018 and probably by 2020. As far as I’m concerned, this attitude is highly conservative for predicting Ethereum’s price when thinking of the surges in the currency. The research team of this website relies on three essential factors:

• a. Ethereum supply intended for today and future

Currently there are 100 million Ethereum coins circulating. This number is expected to increase during the next years and result in a flat afterwards. So, Ethereum developers will ensure that the number of coins in circulation remains stable.

• b. Ethereum applications

Ethereum, with its ability to adopt smart contracts, has advantages when compared to Bitcoin. These automated contracts are performed without the need for any intervention when their requirements are fulfilled.

On the other hand, in addition to its blockchain technology, Ethereum allows developers to establish their own dapps, hence decentralized apps. The Ethereum’s price gets surprisingly higher as the number of apps is increased.

Investing Haven’s research team suggests that we will experience a 20 to 30 times rise in the number of decentralized blockchain apps in 5 to 7 years when compared to what we see today.

• c. Ethereum demand

One of the two things will motivate the Ethereum demand. Being established on a blockchain with various applications. Gaining value as a possible investment tool.

With regard to its availability, people are interested in this coin for its technology under smart contracts. On the other hand, it is obvious that new applications intended for Ethereum blockchain will also result in a demand.

2. Ethereum May Outperform Bitcoin

At earlier press time, in June 2017, I used this headline but now I’m not sure to repeat it. The Ethereum’s price should outrank Bitcoin in upcoming days. Hence, Ethereum investments will have a higher ROI when compared to Bitcoin. In January 2018, considering the Bitcoin’s price, this was not easy to believe, but it is evident that it was under $6000 less than seven months ago. Bitcoin is probably employed by short-term investors these days. Besides, the hypothesis relies on Ethereum’s growth for 2015-2017 and Bitcoin’s growth for 2009-2017.

Actually, Olaf Carlson-Wee, the hedge fund Polychain Capital’s CEO, believes that the Ethereum’s whole market capitalization will surpass the Bitcoin by the end of 2018. These are his Ethereum forecasts for 2018. If it surpasses it, the price will even triple.

Olaf’s perception is widely supported with evidence. However, the aforementioned 20 times burst in Ethereum has occurred within 4 months and the 8.5-fold explosion in Bitcoin has taken a year and a half.

Furthermore, during the last year, Ethereum has gained approximately half of the Bitcoin’s market share. To make things in order, 90% of all the money invested in the cryptocurrency market was for Bitcoin seven months ago.

Surprisingly, this number is approximately just 55%. On the contrary, the share of Ethereum has risen four-fold in size to approximately 30%.

One may think that Ethereum can outperform Bitcoin also by considering their supporting factors and the reason of their supports. Among governments, like Japan and China, Bitcoin’s approach to payment technology makes it popular.

However, the smart contract technology of Ethereum draws the attention of organizations with its real-world applications. For instance, the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), which is a new coalition, has occurred in order to ease and support the Ethereum’s growth.

More than 86 companies, being JP Morgan and Microsoft among them, are involved in the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. The potential of this technology is proven now with the confirmation of such big corporations.

3. Bad Days Are Not Completely Behind

There is a certain bullish trend for Ethereum, but the cryptocurrency will have to overcome some issues before going stable.

First, although running on blockchain technology, Ethereum differs from Bitcoin in several ways. So, the same problems, including scalability for most, will affect it too as a blockchain technology.

With regard to scalability, the main question is if the transaction time will be compromised by the increased number of users. In layman’s terms, the more people use this technology, the more transactions will be conducted, which means that the load on the ledger may turn out to be a burden.

When the number of transactions gets increased, there will occur a long queue to enter into a block. Without elaborating, this issue has resulted in the fork problem. And the solution is not agreed upon yet.

Ethereum’s another problem is the possible cloning of its technology. Overall, tomorrow, a new firm can start its own cryptocurrency based on blockchain. The value of a cryptocurrency accounts for the agreement among its users.

Thus, it is not easy to convince someone in a digital asset as they would think of the possibility of other currencies getting higher and replacing the one they preferred to stick to.

So, these problems should be addressed in order to avoid jeopardizing Ethereum’s future and complicating things when it comes to forecast Ethereum prices. Will these issues be addressed? Or there will be a new currency without these problems?

Conclusion

It is early to talk about the digital currencies as there is lot to do. Overall, the cryptocurrency world seems pretty bullish, particularly with two main competitors. Bitcoin and Ethereum. Besides, Ethereum’s look is even better than Bitcoin.

Those preferring to look optimistic think that Ethereum should face a positive trend during upcoming years and in turn surpass Bitcoin. Still, there are a lot of problems, which are not to be easily addressed. Also, these concerns may account for the entire crypto world as well.

Therefore, it is not easy to forecast Ethereum’s price for 2018. Any forecast would miss some points. Please feel free to share your opinions and ask your questions in the comments section below.