Somewhere around November last year, the price of Bitcoin started increasing, hitting $20,000 a level that no one expected. It was the same time when CBOE and CME launched he Bitcoin futures which were partially a catalyst behind price jump. Once again, for the first time in 2018, the price of Bitcoin seems to have improved due to similar reasons.

In July this year, Bitcoin suddenly popped from $6,000 to $7,500. The possible reason behind such a huge jump is believed to be the Bitcoin ETF application by CBOE, yet again.

Till now, many Bitcoin ETFs have been rejected by the SEC but its consideration of the CBOE ETF has given bullish signals to investors.

The insurance of investors from Bitcoin theft as well as the capability of ETFs to purchase large quantities of bitcoin are the two major reasons given by the SEC for rejecting the earlier applications. Thus, it is clear that for an ETF to be approved, the applicant has to provide sufficient infrastructure to ensure investor security.

CBOE, according to many, stands as an advantage due to its ability to get its Bitcoin futures approved previously. As a result, CBOE may be in a better position than other players to ensure the safety of investors. If the SEC approves the application, it will be the first Bitcoin ETF having permission to purchase BTC.

As has been announced recently, institutional money makes 50% of all the money that entered the cryptocurrency ecosystem so far in 2018. Approval of an ETF is very likely to speed up this process by even a greater percentage.

Expert Opinions

Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard professor and ex-chief of IMF, predicts that Bitcoin will be close to $100. Amongst all the bulls in the market, he brings a unique perspective. Bitcoin does pose a threat to the traditional banking system and if the threats escalate, the IMF can essentially “attack” Bitcoin, using its network of financial institutions all over the world, as the industry clearly has a vested interest in the failure of Bitcoin.

John McAfee, who is known for his outlandish and wild predictions when it comes to Bitcoin, has estimated Bitcoin to reach the $500,000 level by 2020. While the prediction seems rather baseless, it is worth noticing that the flow of institutional investors, into the market, which seems likely, can push the currency to that high of a value. His previous prediction of Bitcoin hitting the $5,000 mark in 2017 actually came true in ways no one could imagine, when the BTC rose to near 4 times of that value.

Tom Lee, a partner at Fundstrat and ex-chief at JP Morgan, earlier believed that Bitcoin would be at $25,000 by mid of 2018, a prediction that did not come true. However, he is still very bullish on Bitcoin as he sees the current trends in the ecosystem are highly positive. With Bitcoin ETFs right around the corner, he believes the institutional money will come sooner or later, pushing the price to new highs.

As we’ve talked about repeatedly, it is obvious that institutional money will take the price of bitcoin to new heights. But, the answers are not so simple.

Though Bitcoin has been experiencing quite a few bull runs, infrastructural issues such as scalability are still at the heart of the currency. Investors like to talk about the price action going on, but the technical developments are a major factor in deciding the fate of Bitcoin.