Thanksgiving is now over, and we are only a few days away from December. Most Bitcoin bulls are defeated regarding their 2018 predictions if not something major happens in December. Bitpays’s COO Sonny Singh believes that an ETF could fuel the price of bitcoin once again.

What will change the tide for bitcoin?

Singh explained, during an interview with Bloomberg, that the crypto market would likely turn during the two first quarters of 2019. The market would turn because major companies such as Fidelity and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) would enter the market and roll out cryptocurrency products. However, he said that we should not look at the price too much but instead look at the adoption:

“Bitcoin has become mainstream adoption around the world and has great brand recognition. We should not look at the price so much but focus on what is happening behind the scenes. We will not see any direction for a long time until something major happens, such as Fidelity, BlackRock, Square or Bakkt launching their products.” Says Singh.

Fidelity Investments currently holds more than $7,2 trillion in client assets and have more than 27 million customers. Their goal is to make digitally-native assets, such as bitcoin, more accessible to investors according to Abigail P. Johnson, Chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments. “We expect to continue investing and experimenting, over the long-term, with ways to make this emerging asset class easier for our clients to understand and use.”

Bakkt, on the other hand, will offer 1-day futures, physically backed by bitcoin which will be delivered the next day to the contract buyer. Bakkts trading is fully collateralised, which means that their contract will not be able to be traded on margin, leverage or otherwise. This, Kelly Loeffler, CEO of Bakkt says, will differentiate Bakkt from other exchanges and futures. Additionally, it will also improve market integrity and allow for more accurate price discovery.

Can bitcoin reach 20,000 USD again?

Both Bakkt and Fidelity plans to roll-out their products during 2019. Singh says that these launches together with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving the first bitcoin ETF will enable the bitcoin price to return to all-time highs during 2019. However, SEC has rejected all ETFs until this point, and it is not a certainty that one will get approved.

“I would say, if these traditional incumbents do launch their products you would see price maybe around $15,000, possibly even $20,000 by the end of next year,” Singh says.

When asked what he thought about the other cryptocurrencies he expressed concern about all cryptos except bitcoin. Bitcoin needs to survive before the market will. If the big players launch cryptocurrency products, it is very likely that a better sentiment will return to the market and higher prices to come with it.

“I think there are a big night and day difference between bitcoin and everything else. Bitcoin is the 800-pound gorilla. That’s the one that has the mass network effect. That’s the one that the traditional financial incumbents are building products around,” he said. “The other ones, I don’t know what’s going to happen to them….None of them is going to survive unless bitcoin survives first.”

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