Expert believes he can predict the behaviour of the famously volatile crypto-markets (Picture: AFP/ Getty)

The price of Bitcoin will double within six months and regain the astonishing heights it reached before its value plunged in the recent ‘cryptopocalypse’.

That’s the opinion of one analyst who claims to have spotted a pattern in the famously unpredictable behaviour of the Bitcoin market.

Anyone who can accurately foresee cryptocurrency price changes stands to become extremely wealthy, profiting by purchasing virtual coins when the price is low and then selling high.

But Bitcoin, Ethereum and all the other cryptocurrencies are famously volatile, meaning that foolproof predictions are impossible.


Thomas Lee, managing partner at the financial research firm Fundstrat Global Advisors, expects to see a new record peak for Bitcoin by July, based on analysis of the currency’s 22 corrections since 2010.

A graph showing Bitcoin’s rollercoaster ride over the past three months (Graphic: Coindesk)

The original cryptocurrency jumped in value by more than 1,300 percent last year, hitting a record peak of almost $20,000 on December 17 before plunging by 70%.



He said: ‘Bitcoin recoveries take 1.7 times the duration of the decline and this implies that 85 days are needed to recover prior highs.

‘This is July 2018.’

On the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp, Bitcoin rose as high as $10,234, up nearly 7% on the previous day. On Coindesk, it’s currently sitting at a value of just under $10,000.

Other digital currencies also rose after posting steep losses over the last few weeks. Ethereum, the second-largest by market value, was up 2.5 percent over the past 24 hours at $933.24, while the third-largest, Ripple, gained 5.3 percent to $1.15, according to cryptocurrency price tracker coinmarketcap.com.

‘Bitcoin’s increase has coincided with the rally in global stock markets,’ said Miles Eakers, chief market analyst, at FX brokerage Centtrip, adding that a sustained break above $10,000 could open the $12,000 level.

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Bitcoin has been buffeted this year by a series of negative headlines centring around increased scrutiny by global regulators.

There have also been a number of hacks on exchanges, the latest being the theft of roughly $532.9 million in digital money from Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck.

Yesterday, European Central Bank executive board member Yves Mersch used a speech in Paris to warn that Bitcoin is not a currency, but a speculative digital asset, according to a Market News International report.

He added that because virtual currencies ‘may become worthless at any time’ because do not have a trusted issuer like a central bank behind them.

Mersch said he is not surprised that virtual currencies are not widely accepted as a means of payment.