Chart of Bitcoin price from September to January (Source: IG)

What’s been happening in to bitcoin price?

Following the high point of winter , the bitcoin bubble began to burst, with its price falling over 50% in just four months. In April , the price of one bitcoin plummeted to US$7,, before it finally bottomed out at US$3, at the end of that year.

Last year, however, was much kinder to the cryptocurrency network. It opened at a paltry US$3,, before rising to a week high of US$12, on 28 June.

This exponential growth appeared to have come on the back of increasing mining difficulty – the rate of ease of generating one bitcoin. Around the same time that bitcoin price hit its thenweek peak level of US$9, in mid, its mining difficulty rose by % to trillion, an all-time high.

Hash rates – which measures the processing power and how secure the network is – also hit a then-historic high of 74 quintillion hashes per second in August A higher hash rate means the bitcoin network is less prone to hacking, making it more valuable.

The second half of was not quite as great, as price started to drop off, eventually losing around % from the summer’s peak to close the year at US$7, per bitcoin.

What’s the forecast for bitcoin price in ?

The year is off to a decent start so far for the digital gold. As of 07 January, its price has risen over 14% (and nearly US$1,) since the year’s first day of trading (02 January) to the present level of US$7,

One observer – Antoni Trenchev, the founder of cryptocurrency lending facility Nexo, says that the bitcoin price could rise 9,,% to hit US$50, by the end of

‘Our analysts have done very substantial research, and there is a hell of a ride coming up because the rewards for miners are dropping. The last time this happened, bitcoin rallied 4,%,’ Trenchev told Bloomberg TV.

Trenchev is referring to an upcoming bitcoin halving event that could take place later this year. According to conwaytransport.com.au, a website which counts down to the next event, the halving could take place as early as 11 May

Bitcoin halving is when the number of new bitcoins being issued are cut by 50%. New bitcoins are issued by the bitcoin network every ten minutes. It is said that this number is reduced by half every four years.

The number of new bitcoins issued every ten minutes for the first four years ( to ) of bitcoin’s existence was In , the number of new bitcoins issued every ten minutes dropped from 50 bitcoins to In , it dropped from 25 to In this year’s halving, it will drop from to

With a lower supply of bitcoins and demand still steady, the price is expected to rally dramatically. After the first halving in , bitcoin price skyrocketed % in the preceding months. The halving of helped to lay the foundations for the impending price rallies of

Even if the price does not come anywhere close to that, a target of US$10, – or at least 25% above the current price – looks highly possible, said UK asset analyst Bill Charison.

He noted that the charts of both gold and bitcoin are ‘eerily similar’, and if bitcoin follows the trajectory of gold closely, the currency could trade in the five figures as early as February, leaving a post-halving price inflation firmly in sight.

With mining difficulty and hash rate currently at a record high of trillion and EH/s respectively, the bull case for bitcoin is looking strong again.

Stay tuned to conwaytransport.com.au for all the latest updates on the Bitcoin network.

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