Bitcoin’s price is set to “surge before the end of 2020” with investors keen not to “sleepwalk” through a 2017-style mini-boom predicts, Nigel Green, CEO and founder of the deVere Group, a global independent financial advisory and Fintech firm.

According to a statement released to the media, the company says Green’s prediction comes as Bitcoin - already one of the best-performing assets this year – appears to be on the brink of a bullish breakout.

deVere Group adds that in recent days, Square, which is owned by the billionaire founders of Twitter, has allocated 1% of its cash reserves to the cryptocurrency, whilst a former Goldman Sachs hedge fund chief says the price of Bitcoin will jump to US$1m in five years.

Green comments: “There’s been something of an avalanche of interest in Bitcoin in recent weeks from household-name investors.

“Investor activity is picking up considerably with various on-chain metrics and ongoing – and heightening - global political, economic and social turbulence suggesting that there will be a price surge before the end of the year.

“Like gold, Bitcoin can be expected to retain its value or even grow in value when other assets fall, therefore enabling investors to reduce their exposure to losses. Investors will increase exposure to decentralised, non-sovereign, secure digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, to help shield them from the potential issues in traditional markets”.

He continues: “There’s a growing sense that we’re set to experience a mini-boom similar to that at the end of 2017.

“Prices are yet to catch-up with investor interest – but this is only a matter of time as investors will not want to sleepwalk towards perhaps year-high prices in the run-up to the end of 2020.”

The late 2017 bull run saw the Bitcoin price reach its all-time high of US$20,089.

The deVere CEO concludes: “There’s been a notable ramping-up of interest in Bitcoin amongst investors since the end of summer. Indeed, it has been the best performing week for one of the year’s best-performing assets since July.

“I can see no reason why this upward trajectory will not continue between now and the end of the year.”

More use in Africa

In September ITWeb Africa reported that according to a new Chainalysis 2020 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report, more Africans are now using cryptocurrency to facilitate private and business transactions with other regions, specifically China.

According to the report, developing countries in Africa, Latin America and some parts of East Asia have high grassroots cryptocurrency activity, while Africa received about US$8-billion in crypto value over the last year representing the smallest cryptocurrency economy of any region analysed in the report.

“However, that relatively small amount of activity is creating life-changing value for users in the region facing economic instability, offering low-fee remittances and an alternative way to save,” it says, pointing to how top African currencies, including the South African Rand and Nigerian Naira, have devalued against the US dollar in the last decade.