Bitcoin could still reach $50,000 USD in 2019 but it has to clear a few important resistance levels. And very soon. We still maintain our (very) long term Bitcoin price forecast of $160,000 and believe that in 2019, we might see Bitcoin Price reach $50,000 or cross above. Our article today will cover the three factors that could send Bitcoin price to $50,000  in 2019.

Factor # 1 Bitcoin ETF Approval and Institutional buyers

Right now, most Bitcoin buying is not easily accessible for many retail investors and speculators. Once institutional buyers really step in, that’s when the real spike in the Cryptocurrency market will really happen.

An interesting observation our team noticed is how right before the launch of Bitcoin futures, we saw a similar cryptocurrency market crash in 2017. Following the crash, the market not only recovered and Bitcoin broke above the 10,000 resistance, it actually crossed above $20,000. Recently CBOE Global markets relaunched the request for approving a bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP), citing the same arguments as for the launch of the approved market futures.

Could the same happen again? It might be just a question of time and if that happens, it could trigger the next run in Bitcoin price with a $50,000 target for 2019.

Factor # 2 Better understanding of Bitcoin’s limited Supply

Key factor #2 is how limited Bitcoin’s supply really is. When the market realizes that Bitcoin’s available supply is even less than the mined coins in circulation and that it will never get to the total supply that can be mined, scarcity will drive the price much higher.

As of early 2018, this infographic by Nicholas Rapp of Fortune illustrates the breakdown of the current Bitcoin supply and the article is a good read featuring a new study of lost Bitcoin’s :

According to new research from Chainalysis, a digital forensics firm that studies the bitcoin blockchain, 3.79 million bitcoins are already gone for good based on a high estimate—and 2.78 million based on a low one. Those numbers imply 17% to 23% of existing bitcoins, which are today worth around $8,500 each, are lost.