If it hadn’t been for a massive price correction in the week leading up to Christmas, another big price prediction for Bitcoin in 2018 wouldn’t be hard to believe.However, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies saw big drops in market capitalization due to a number of factors and lofty predictions seemed unfathomable in the wake of a massive drop in value.Considering that the markets have now consolidated and the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum have recovered well - it’s fitting that we revisit some targets set by the likes of Moas, who has delivered some reliable, well-informed valuations in 2017.Speaking to Cointelegraph last week in an exclusive profile interview, Moas explained why he believes Bitcoin is destined to become the most valuable currency in the world. The 50-year-old is confident it will eventually surpass China and Gold in terms of market capitalization:

“Bitcoin would have to jump 20x from where it is now to hit that number one spot. That would put its valuation at around $6 tln, which is near where Gold and China are right now.”

“Why do I think Bitcoin deserves the same valuation as gold? It’s very simple, I don’t know how much Gold there is in the ground, But I know how much Bitcoin there is, and I also know that if the current pace continues with one to two mln people around the world opening up new crypto accounts. We will have a few hundred million people by this time two years from now trying to get their hands on a few million Bitcoin that are available.”

Another driving factor in Moas’ 2018 prediction is the actual supply of Bitcoin. A recent study estimated that nearly four mln Bitcoin are lost forever - accounting for over 20 percent of the coins mined to this day. That isn’t counting bullish investors that ‘hodl’ their Bitcoin:

“The number (of Bitcoin available) is a lot lower than what people think it is. A lot of the Bitcoin has been lost, some of it hasn’t been mined and then you have a lot of people like myself that just won’t sell their Bitcoin at any price.”

So where does that leave Moas in terms of a price target in 2018? To understand how he goes about putting a price on the virtual currency, we need to understand where he started in the first place:“My feeling all along is that Bitcoin is going to hit the top of the mountain. As far as my price targets go, I started out with a $50,000 target back in July - we were at $2,570 at the time. Had I told people where I really thought it was going at the time, they would have thought I was on drugs. You can’t put out $200-300,000 target on something when it’s trading at $2,570, people just won’t take you seriously.”“So what I did was put my target out, and every few weeks as news comes out, and the obstacles and dominoes in Bitcoin’s path get knocked down, I adjust my price target.”Moas has drawn a line in the sand already:

“My target for 2018 is $28,000 and it may get upgraded again in the next few months.”

Futures legitimise crypto

Taking Bitcoin at its present value around means that a lot of ground needs to be made if it is going to meet Moas’ expectation in the next 12 months.However, the top-rated stock picker points to the favorable reaction to the launch of Bitcoin futures contracts and the ramifications and future prospects of mass-adoption by Wall Street.“A lot of people don’t realize that everything I learned in my 20 years in the stock market has translated into the crypto market and it puts me in a unique situation to understand what is going on right now.”

“People that don’t understand how financial markets work have probably already exited Bitcoin after it doubled, tripled and quadrupled.”

Moas insists that people should not sell their Bitcoin and treat it like bullish investors treated Amazon over the years.“In the last 15 years, Amazon went from 20 dollars to $1,150, even though people were trying to short it the entire time, arguing that this company was not worth what it was trading at because up until a few years ago Amazon was losing money on every single book they sold. There were some people that just didn’t understand how this thing was being valued so they bet against it and they got their heads handed to them on a plate.”Aiming his sights at Bitcoin bears that have now entered the market, Moas warned that they could get burned if they try to short the market.“That is what will happen to the people that try to bet against Bitcoin. That’s why I’m not worried about what is going on in the futures market. The futures market is basically a stamp of approval on crypto and it legitimises crypto as a new asset class. There will be a little bit of extra volatility now that CME and CBOE are involved but once Wall Street enters the arena, the floodgates will open.