Bitcoin, next stop $4000 ?

Bitcoin has been on a historic tear in 2017. After ringing in the year at $1,000 on the very first day of January, bitcoin price reached an all-time high of $3,000 in mid-June. The remarkable rise amid an overall boom period for cryptocurrencies has seen skepticism from some observers who have pointed to inflated values amid accusations of a bubble. Others are looking at more bullish gains.

Over the weekend, Goldman Sachs chimed in on the cryptocurrency’s prospects, with what’s best described as a mixed outlook. Analyst Sheba Jafari, head of technical strategy at Goldman, sent a note, reported by Business Insider, to clients stating that a continued pullback is likely in the near term, but will ultimately lead to new highs.

Jafari notes that bitcoin is “still in a corrective 4th wave,” which “shouldn’t go much further than 1,857.” That implies an additional drop of around 25% from its current levels around $2,500.

Jafari, who was persuaded into covering bitcoin by Goldman Sachs’ clients recently, sees the current corrective course to tread longer with upward gains to be the ultimate outcome.

That’s where the negative news ends, however. “From current levels, this has a minimum target that goes out to 3,212 (if equal to the length of wave I),” Jafari says. “There’s potential to extend as far as 3,915 (if 1.618 times the length of wave I). It just might take time to get there.”

Other analysts, like Nicola Duke at Forex Analytix, say that bitcoin could fall to $1,470 during the current correction. But most of the industry agrees that the current drop is liable to continue for a while. The bigger question is whether or not the “bitcoin” bubble, as it will, is going to burst for good or whether the fifth wave will keep it alive longer.