This chart shows the astronomical rise of Bitcoin over the past year (Chart: Coinbase)

Bitcoin shot up in price by more than 1800 percent last year, rocketing from about $1,000 per coin to more than $19,000.

But now one expert has said the price could ‘easily double’ or even triple again in 2018.

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Tom Lee, co-founder and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, has a history of accurately predicting Bitcoin’s behaviour.

In August 2017, he said the cryptocurrency would soar above $10,000. In December, it hit a whopping $19,000 per coin before taking a nosedive and losing about 25 percent of its value.


Lee said Bitcoin would rocket above $20,000 this year and stay there.

This graphic shows the logos of the four major cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and Ripple

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If it breaks the $20k barrier, the cryptocurrency could even ‘see a move bigger than that’.

He told CNBC: ‘As millennials discover and generate income, they’re going to use it as a replacement for gold.

‘I think Bitcoin is still something you should own.’

Ripple is currently dropping like a stone, plummeting from $2.52 to $1.81 in the past week.

Ethereum, on the other hand, has been on the rise.

The price of Ripple has taken a clobbering in the last week (Chart: Coindesk)

Samuel Miranda, a cryptocurrency expert from Coinlist.me, told us that at least one of these alt-coins would keep on rising.

He said: ‘Ripple has dipped because Coin Market Cap, the main website which collates and provides an average of price from worldwide exchanges, was not factoring in the price at South Korean exchanges.

‘This dip in price caused market panic and a sell-off. This was compounded when the South Korean government warned it could be calling a vote on whether to ban crypto trading on domestic exchanges.

‘However, Ripple rallied following its announcement of a partnership with Moneygram.

‘Expect Ethereum to be a consistent riser this year due to more coins adopting the Ethereum blockchain.’

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