2018 has been a year full of ups an downs for Bitcoin, in terms of its price. Despite various fluctuations in its price, Bitcoin has grown as an investment vehicle, largely due to the introduction of Bitcoin futures. Even the dynamics related to crypto coin trading changed considerably. While one cannot assure if the Bitcoin market will be bearish or bullish, the predictions for 2019 are likely optimistic.

The number of crypto users almost doubled

After the price of Bitcoin fell down in 2018, and everyone expected it to recover, although it did not, the market became bearish. Despite this downfall, cryptocurrency investors did not give up completely.

According to a recent study by Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, the number of verified cryptocurrency users almost doubled in 2018. As per the user activity numbers, it looks like many users are still long term investors. People have become more active than before, when it comes to crypto coin trading. While 35% of users were active in 2016, 37% were active in 2017 and 38% were active in the first quarter of 2018.

Apart from this, coinmap.org witnessed 25% increase in the number of Bitcoin accepting venues; it was 14,137 in 2018. In addition, according to coinatmradar.com, the number of Bitcoin ATM installations increased by 98%; it reached 4,108 in 2018.

Bitcoin dominance

Needless to say, the price of a coin remains one of the biggest concerns of any investor. The price of Bitcoin is known to be leading other coins. Many altcoins are traded against Bitcoin, making Bitcoin a dominant cryptocurrency.

It is hard to answer whether the price of Bitcoin will rise or fall in future; many investors believe in Bitcoin in the long run. Bitcoin is more likely to replace offshore accounts as a means to hold private funds. Once this reason results in increase in Bitcoin popularity, more conservative institutions, including central banks, state and local pension funds and more, may follow suit as they become more comfortable with crypto assets.

What could impact Bitcoin price?

The price of Bitcoin is closely related to problems faced by Bitcoin’s blockchain. One of these is scalability. The most likely solution to this problem, as of now, is the Lightning Network. It is believed that the success of the Lightning Network will allow Bitcoin to have quick transactions at considerably low fees. This paves the way for best crypto exchange platforms to offer quick transactions. Moreover, it will result in fast micro-payments where the users can read an article by paying a penny or receive tips from fans on social media.

According to a report, Bitcoin is being used to make payments for purchases at a steady rate since February, 2018. The number of Bitcoins spent per month, to make the payment, ranged from 16,500 to 20,000. Although the number fell to around 14,500 in September, 2018, it can still surge, as it happened in early 2018.

Moreover, with the launch of Bakkt in January, institutional investors are more likely to enter Bitcoin in 2019. Nasdaq will also venture into crypto coin trading.

Institutional investors mean more regulation

Conventional finance comes with plenty of rules to protect the client as well as the service provider. As institutional investors step into cryptocurrency trading, we can expect more rules related to Bitcoin. This is clear from the update that the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), a G7-founded organization, is formulating policies concerning money laundering.

As cryptocurrencies become more safely policed, more and more people will become interested to use and adopt them.

To sum up, although Bitcoin saw various rises and falls in 2018, the amount of Bitcoin technologies and financial instruments set to disrupt the market are more likely to make Bitcoin flourish in 2019.