Monero Price Prediction 2018: Monero Looks to Extend 800% Gain in…

If you came to this article through a search of “Monero Price Prediction in 2018,” you came to the right place.

This report provides an overview of the Monero cryptocurrency, including how Monero (XMR) derives its value and distinguishes itself in a crowded market. Also, this report contains Monero to USD forecasts that range from conservative to, well, less conservative.

I should add that readers are expected to conduct their own research before choosing to buy Monero. Nothing written below should be taken as investment advice. It is purely market commentary, free of sponsorship or patronage. That said, we will include a step-by-step instruction guide for readers who want to buy Monero.

So without further ado…

Cryptocurrency Overview

Cryptocurrencies are a Rorschach test of sorts because everyone sees something different in them. You may see a way of paying down your mortgage or funding your kids’ college tuition, while others may see it as a road to millionaire status…

Blockchain developers, though, tend to think of cryptocurrencies as a way of changing the world. They witnessed the agony and chaos of the 2008 financial crisis, and rather than simply accepting it as the status quo, they chose to disrupt finance.

And so, Bitcoin was born.

Many of them compare the creation of Bitcoin to the start of the Internet. However, they can’t seem to agree on why it’s such big a deal. In my experience, there are three camps arguing over what makes blockchain special:

1. The “Don’t Tread on Me” Crowd: Typically, these developers want to escape government oversight. Also, they fear a move to “cashless societies” and are suspicious of both regulation and taxes. Put another way, they just want Uncle Sam to stay out of their lives as much as possible.
2. The Anti-Inflation Brigade: Milton Friedman once said that “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” What he meant is that central banks print more cash whenever there is trouble in the economy, thus weakening the value of your money. Some developers take this problem quite seriously. They propose that fixing the supply of cryptocurrency tokens will solve this ancient economic problem.
3. The Middle-Men Bounty Hunters: Economists will tell you that our economy is increasingly driven by “middle-men.” Blockchain has the power to disrupt middle-men in various industries because it engenders trust through code. (See decentralized application blockchains for further information.)

Monero developers fall into the first camp, although their creation also reflects principles from the second and third. But before we get too far into the weeds, let’s take a step back to ask the most fundamental of questions: What is Monero?

What Is Monero?

Monero is a decentralized cryptocurrency that emphasizes privacy. Similar to Bitcoin and Ethereum, it allows users to send digital cash without the help of a bank or credit union.

The peer-to-peer transactions are completed using a network of computers that record the payments and commit it to the blockchain. No trust is required. You are essentially your own little bank, capable of sending money to other individuals operating their own little banks.

Rising demand for Monero tokens sent the XMR price surging this year. In fact, Monero prices rose 800% since the start of 2017, from $13.79 to $124.11.

Monero Price Chart

But one might ask: Why is Monero needed at all?

Surely one cryptocurrency is enough. Or if investors are desperate for a more efficient alternative to Bitcoin, surely they can use Litecoin or Ethereum. What use does another cryptocurrency serve?

Let us take a closer look (and note the Monero price prediction for 2018 later below).

Is Monero Better than Litecoin or Ethereum?

First off, Monero processed more than 86,000 transactions in the month of August. It is not one of the newly minted cryptocurrencies propped up by their founders—there is a genuine demand for the currency, and that demand is rising.

Even Swiss banks and offshore management organizations are starting to move their assets through Monero. But none of this explains why users would prefer Monero over LTC or ETH.

So what makes it so special? We have four explanations:

1. Monero is private. A lot of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Litecoin included, make privacy concessions in the name of functionality. Monero, on the other hand, uses “ring signatures and ring confidential transactions to obfuscate the amounts, origins, and destinations of all transactions.” You are completely anonymous.
2. Monero is untraceable. There is no way for governments or regulators to track Monero transactions. The addresses of senders and receivers are automatically hidden, meaning that it’s impossible for others to draw a connection between your digital self and your real-world self. Once again, this fits with the privacy theme.
3. Monero has no block size limit. Bitcoin was almost ripped in two because a handful of developers want to increase the block size limit. Limiting the block size is seen as an obstacle to scaling. This means that Monero is ahead of the curve because it chose flexible block sizes rather than capping the size with an arbitrary limit.
4. Monero cannot be hacked. Unlike most other cryptocurrencies, you do not keep your money with a third party—it stays with you. This makes it nearly impossible for hackers to steal your funds because they often target exchanges and third-party applications.

Also, Monero has a restore function that investors can use in the event their account is compromised. For example, let’s say your computer crashes and you need to restore your XMR account. It’s no big deal.

You simply plug in the 25-word “mnemonic seed” needed to recall your account, and voilà, it appears. To some investors, this added safety makes Monero preferable to Litecoin or Ethereum. Really, it depends on what you want out of the currency.

How to Mine Monero?

Mining XMR tokens is similar to mining other currencies, in that you are supplying your computer to the network in exchange for a monetary reward.

Monero mining is somewhat more of a level playing field, though. Rather than letting ASIC mining operations—run by large corporations, no less—crowd out individuals, Monero actually gives the little guy a chance to make money by mining XMR.

You can mine the currency several different ways, including through:

1. Solo mining
2. Mining on a pool
3. Mining with XMRig and Docker

If you’re interested, read the attached guides for further detail. The solo mining process is, in particular, quite easy to start. That said, we will now dive into the analysis of the Monero price forecast for 2018.

Monero Price Prediction for 2018

The Monero to USD exchange rate has already surged 800% since the start of the year. Going forward, there is more room to the upside, although it may take XMR longer than its rivals to exploit this potential.

Why? Because Monero’s competitive advantage is privacy. And of all the aspects of cryptocurrency gaining media attention at the moment, privacy ranks somewhere between irrelevant and really irrelevant.

This is not to say that privacy is nothing—quite the contrary, in fact. Privacy is crucial. The original impetus for cryptocurrencies was, in many respects, a fight for privacy.

However, the market is blinded by Bitcoin forks and initial coin offerings (ICOs). We might have to wait several months for a “privacy premium” to kick in. Fear not, though. I am confident that it will happen.

Analyst Take:

While Monero is not dominated by deflationary forces, rising demand for this currency promises significant gains. A “privacy premium” could further compound these gains, leading the XMR price as high as $400.00 in 2018.

Monero Price Prediction 2018: $350.00 – $400.00