Opinion: Bitcoin Could Rise $ 64,000 in Next Year

Fundstrat's investment research firm said that the growth of bitcoin "miner" activity could send the most popular cryptocurrency price of $ 64,000.
Bitcoin is made through an energy-intensive process known as mining, where computers receive cryptocurrency in return for solving complicated mathematical formulas. Processing power to guess the solution is known as "hash power," which Fundstrat predicted would grow 350 percent by 2019.
"We believe that the current 'hash power' growth path supports the BTC price of around $ 36,000 by the end of 2019, with a range of $ 20,000- $ 64,000," Sam Doctor, head of data science research at Fundstrat, said in a report.

Bitcoin traded near $ 9,300 in trading on Thursday (10/5). While in the past year, bitcoin jumped from below $ 1,000 to above $ 19,000, due to high investor interest in the virtual currency. However, concerns about the regulatory crackdown have helped send prices lower this year.
However, the bitcoin mining economy is likely to create support levels for cryptocurrency. Bitcoin miners are more likely to hold bitcoins because their prices fall to break even for operating costs, and sell when prices rise, leading to greater profits. This is because the main "net seller" is a bitcoin miner, and the rest is transactions between investors.

Cryptocurrency mining depends on factors such as electricity costs, cooling equipment and special hardware, known as rigs.
On May 6, Fundstrat estimates the cash break-even price for the old model Antminer S7 is $ 6.003 per bitcoin, and $ 2,368 for the newer Antminer S9. Both are made by Beijing-based Bitmain, which analyst Bernstein estimates has $ 3 billion to $ 4 billion in operating earnings last year.
"The release of next-generation hardware rigs will trigger a new round of capex as well as the growth of 'hash power', which can accelerate if BTC prices strengthen," Doctor said.
Founder of Fundstrat, Tom Lee is Wall Street's sole main strategy to cover bitcoin. He issued his first formal report on cryptocurrency in July, when bitcoin traded near $ 2,540. At that time, Lee predicted bitcoin could be a gold substitute and reached $ 20,000 to $ 55,000 by 2022.