Bitcoin Could Reach $40,000 by End of 2018

Bitcoin was hovering just $300 shy of the vaunted $10,000 mark at one point on Monday but it could “easily” reach four times that amount by the end of 2018. That’s according to former Fortress hedge fund manager Michael Novogratz.

“Bitcoin could be at $40,000 at the end of 2018. It easily could,” Novogratz said on the CNBC show Fast Money, Monday. “Ethereum, which I think just touched $500 or is getting close, could be triple where it is as well,” he added.

Ethereum, the second largest publicly traded cryptocurrency by market cap, hit a record high of $493.40 Monday, according to CoinMarketCap.

Novogratz attributed the cryptocurrency sector’s rambunctious growth prospects to an influx of new money, particularly from Asian investors, and to cryptocurrencies’ finite amount of units: 21 million coins in the case of Bitcoin. This means that in contrast to commodities like oil or agricultural products, producers can’t choke or expand supply in response to market fluctuations.