(Stockhouse)
Finder.com’s April
Cryptocurrency Predictions Report points to growth in the cryptocurrency market, however, a team of leading cryptocurrency panellists predict
Dogecoin (DOGE) will experience the greatest percentage growth by December 31, 2018, up 5,838 percent. Finder.com claims the
Ethereum (ETH) market cap will grow by 234 percent by December 31, 2018.
Bitcoin (BTC), currently priced at US$6850, is up about a 1.5% over the last 24 hours.
CLICK BELOW FOR REAL-TIME CRYPTOCURRENCY PRICE INDEXES:
Cardano (ADA) is expected to have the second greatest increase in growth by the end of the year, up 812 percent, followed by
Ripple (XRP), up 526 percent.
One of this year’s biggest surprises comes from the aforementioned Dogecoin, the parody alt coin named after an internet meme featuring a
Shiba Inu dog that had, until the end of last year, been largely ignored since its heyday in 2014.
In 2015
Motherboard, the Vice-owned technology platform, described it as a “
cryptocurrency originally started for s***s and giggles”. However, Finder.com says that DOGE, priced at US$0.003 per unit on March 27, 2018, is forecast to reach $0.1938 by the end of the year.
Jon Ostler, UK CEO at Finder.com said:
“While the downward trend has continued over the past month for many coins, our panel remains bullish in a presently bearish market, signalling optimism for future growth…This is the second consecutive month where panellists are expecting no drop in value for any of the included coins by the end of 2018.”
The CEO went on to say:
“While Dogecoin (DOGE), Cardano (ADA), Ripple (XRP), Ethereum (ETH), and
Stellar Lumens (XLM) are expected to see greater percentage growth than bitcoin (BTC) this year, BTC is still forecast by our panel to reach the highest value of the 13 coins, at $21,485 (£15,261) by December 31.”
Ostler warns that all cryptocurrency price predictions must be taken with a grain of salt. He commented that:
“Before considering purchasing cryptocurrency, it’s crucial to understand that the market is incredibly volatile and will continue to represent high risk. It’s important to do your research, seek professional advice and compare your options before taking the leap into the market.”
The overall market capitalization for all virtual currencies combined currently hovers around US$262 billion, according to
cryptolization.com. That's about a third of its peak level from December 2017.
Officials around the world are tightening regulations to deal with a host of problems involving virtual currencies. These include the alleged
theft of a cryptocurrency from a Tokyo-based exchange, and the laundering of illegal profits. An expert says the speculative fever has been cooling down since early this year and a bubble is unlikely to occur.