Bitcoin will hit $4,000 USD a coin before year is out, investor claims

Bitcoin has been on an upward swing since late March and shows no signs of letting up. Having just topped $2,200 CAD for the first time ever, the value of a single bitcoin now stands at $2,238.19, as of 11am, ET; some investors believe this will hit the neighbourhood of $5,100 CAD within the year.

Steve Masters, director at Global Advisors Bitcoin Investment Fund, told CNBC: "In the 8-to-14-month horizon, my forecast would be around $4,000 [USD].” Others also expect high prices; Gatecoin's Aurélien Menant agreed that prices should climb beyond $3,000 (USD) this year.

In the last 30 days alone, Bitcoin’s value has surged more than 33%. This is thanks, in part, to the Japanese government’s decision, on April 1st, to recognize the cryptocurrency as a legal method of payment.



Additionally, Bitcoin benefited immensely from rival coin Litecoin’s decision to implement Segregated Witness (SegWit) – the reason? SegWit can handle a far greater number of transactions at a much faster rate and Litecoin’s decision to adopt has fuelled hopes that Bitcoin will follow suit, thus solving the ‘hard fork’ dilemma.

"That example of a successful soft fork in Litecoin has made people start to think that we could get a successful SegWit implementation in Bitcoin and that could increase capacity and move us to the next level”, Masters told CNBC.

Litecoin is currently hovering at around $40 a coin and is expected to formally add SegWit in the next few days; its subsequent performance will likely influence Bitcoin’s future.