Another day, another record-breaking high for Ethereum.Investors are refusing to give up their optimism on the Ethereum blockchain, even as they slash more than 10% from Bitcoin’s market capitalization.What does this mean?And, more importantly, should it change our Ethereum price predictions for 2018?BTC prices were on a rocket ride this year, having more than doubled since the start of 2017.A confluence of events, including capital controls in the East and internal blockchain issues, led to the original cryptocurrency’s success.But that does not mean everything is hunky-dory in Bitcoin-land.Volatility still rears its ugly head from time to time.This week, for instance, Bitcoin passed $3,000.It broke that remarkable threshold in the pursuit of new highs which, to be sure, it found.But the sweetness was short-lived.A massive sell-off drove the price back down to $2,664.78, and within 24 hours no less.This is disturbing for many reasons, not least of which is that Bitcoin wants to destroy fiat currencies.

It is on a mission to overthrow the existing monetary system, but volatility is counter-productive to that goal.Think about it: No one wants money that can drop 10% overnight.Money is supposed to be stable.We shouldn’t have to walk around with the worry that it’ll burn a hole in our pockets.Bitcoin needs to resolve this issue if its price is to continue rising.Ethereum isn’t bogged down by the same obsession with fiat currencies.To be sure, most ETH developers would gladly see central banks crumble into oblivion.But they don’t base Ethereum’s currency’s success on that outcome, which perhaps explains why ETH rose 10.6% on the same day that BTC lost 11.7%.In fact, the discrepancy between their goals is why I believe Ethereum prices will reach $1,000 in 2018.Unlike Bitcoin, the Ethereum price is based more on a platform than a currency.It has a token, called ether, which is used for native transactions on the Ethereum platform.But ether isn’t quite the same as bitcoin.It isn’t a currency for currency’s sake.

The platform has a higher purpose.Users are supposed to develop “smart contracts” on the Ethereum platform.These “smart contracts” are automated business functions that would normally have been processed by middle-men.In fact, you could say that Ethereum is waging war on middle-men.Banks, lawyers, and other folks who produce nothing should be terrified of this technology.The whole point of blockchain technology was that it decentralized information.Bitcoin focused on decentralizing money; Ethereum expanded that idea to everything else.It is extremely important to the Ethereum price forecast in 2018.Heck, companies are using “smart contracts” to go public on Ethereum.It is a process called “initial coin offering” (ICO), and blockchain entrepreneurs are already raising more money from this than from venture capital (VC).This year alone, ICOs raised $327.0 million, while VCs raised only $295.0 million.(Source: “ICO Investments Pass VC Funding in Blockchain Market First,” CoinDesk, June 9, 2017.)

I find that incredible.Apparently the market does as well, because Ethereum prices have shot up 5,000% since they began.It seems like the “War on Middle-Men” is paying a lot better than the “War on Currency.” Of course, this isn’t to say that any Ethereum price predictions are guaranteed.The platform itself was split last year into two versions: “Ethereum” and “Ethereum Classic.” There are a lot of technical nuances between the two versions, but here’s all you need to know: So, don’t worry too much about the 2018 ETC price prediction; it doesn’t hold a candle to the ETH price outlook.ethereum deep webThe same goes for the Bitcoin price prediction.litecoin buy stuffAnother discrepancy in the “Bitcoin vs.litecoin rate calculator

Ethereum” argument is how each was formed.Ethereum was originally designed by a young programmer named Vitalik Buterin.He laid out his vision in an historic white paper, and he regularly appears at conferences.This makes it slightly easier to trust an Ethereum price forecast for 2018, because the man responsible is a known quantity.Bitcoin, on the other hand, was devised by a mysterious software programmer known as Satoshi Nakamoto.No one knows who he really is.Believe me, people have tried to find out, but it has been a wild goose chase every time.bitcoin armory open sourceAt one point, reporters were chasing a man named Satoshi Nakamoto down a highway in Los Angeles, California.litecoin price in inrIt eventually turned out they’d tracked down the wrong man.bitcoin ransomware tracking

Another time, an Australian man named Craig Wright claimed (in true Spartacus fashion) that he was the real Satoshi Nakamoto.He promised to release evidence, but never did.He backed out, saying that the attention was too much.What a fiasco that was.In any case, the evidence is overwhelmingly stacked in favor of a bullish ETC price predictions.From smart contracts to the ETC/ETH rotation, I firmly believe we could see the Ethereum price reach $1,000 during 2018.Written by Jason Stutman In case you’ve been living under a rock the past few months, let me just take a moment to catch you up on the sheer insanity that is the cryptocurrency market right now.Since the start of the year, the total market capitalization of the rising asset class has skyrocketed from $18 billion to as high as $90 billion, surpassing the likes of NIKE (NYSE: NKE), NVIDIA Corp.(NASDAQ: NVDA), Qualcomm Inc.(NASDAQ: QCOM), and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) in value.The numbers are obviously staggering, especially when you consider how quickly this has happened.

If you had diversified across the entire sector back in January, less than six months ago, you could be looking at a staggering return of 500%.If you’re feeling the slight sting of regret after hearing that, you’re definitely not alone.We first began pushing the most widely recognized cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, to Wealth Daily subscribers in late 2014, when it was trading at $320 a unit.At the time, a lot of people were saying this was insane.They thought Bitcoin was just a bubble on its way out, a passing fad so to speak.Those people didn’t take action, and they’re presumably feeling the pain today.In 2016 I followed up with another plea to our readers when Bitcoin was at $710.I called for the digital currency to hit $1,200 before the close of 2018.I was certainly right, but far too conservative, it turns out.Bitcoin has been on an absolute tear, touching $2,800 this week.The digital currency has since cooled down after profit-taking, but there’s little doubt the ceiling has been blown way off on this thing.

If you have your calculator handy, you’ve already figured a 775% gain since our initial coverage of Bitcoin in 2014 and a 294% gain since our reassertion leading into 2017.Unfortunately, I know for a fact that many of our readers aren’t taking our advice when we give it.I know this because two weeks ago, we offered a free report on cryptocurrencies, and the response was pretty pathetic.On top of the free report, we put together a video tutorial so our readers could easily understand the buying process.We even partnered with digital asset exchange company Coinbase so new users could earn $10 in free digital currency when they got started.How many people took us up on the offer?Enough to count with my fingers.For perspective, we have several hundred thousand readers subscribed to Wealth Daily.I can’t give you exact numbers on how many people saw that offer, but I can assure you it was a lot.As someone who’s been trying to get people invested in digital currency for years, I have to say it’s a little frustrating — but I also understand.

Over the years, Wealth Daily has built a large community of independent investors... but of a very specific kind.Our readers are used to trading stocks and taking stakes in public companies.They’ve been doing it for years — decades, in fact — and the truth is that people tend to fear change.If you’re already set up with an online brokerage, buying digital currencies obviously isn’t as easy as trading stocks.You have to take the time to open a new account and transfer funds.It’s quite easy to do, actually, but it’s an extra step that a lot of people are avoiding for the sake of convenience.Join Wealth Daily today for FREE.We''ll keep you on top of all the hottest investment ideas before they hit Wall Street.Become a member today, and get our latest free report: "Three Reasons to Buy Ethereum" We never spam!View our Privacy Policy After getting your report, you'll begin receiving the Wealth Daily e-Letter, delivered to your inbox daily.To highlight this fact, just take a look at the recently established Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC).

GBTC is a fund that exclusively invests in Bitcoin and was the first avenue for public investors to gain exposure to the price movement of Bitcoin through a traditional stock exchange.Essentially, it’s a convenience for investors who don’t want to open a digital assets account.And the price that investors have been willing to pay for this convenience is absolutely staggering.To start off, there is a 2% annual fee paid to the sponsor of the trust, which is obviously going to eat away at any long-term gains.But far worse, GBTC has been trading near a 50% premium to its actual Bitcoin assets.This is completely irrational and, to be completely frank, just plain lazy.Rather than take 10 minutes to set up a Coinbase account, it seems that these buyers would rather increase their cost basis by 50% AND pay a 2% annual fee on top.To be fair, most of these investors probably have no idea what’s even happening.But still, you have to kidding me... I hate to be so stern, but if you want exposure to Bitcoin, I beg of you, don’t put your money in the Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust.

It’s just plain dumb.If you’re not going to invest in digital currencies because you think they’re too risky, that’s one thing.I certainly understand any hesitation following the recent run.It was too much, too quickly, and the safe thing to do would be to wait for some support.But if you’re simply avoiding the inconvenience of buying cryptocurrencies directly, I assure you this is a mistake.It’s a very simple process that you can get started with immediately.No doubt, digital currencies are going to remain volatile.These aren’t investments for the faint of heart, and it’s not anything you should be betting the entire farm on...But rest assured that blockchain technologies, at this point, are not going away.Many will fail, but those that manage to make it through the chaos will bring investors wealth beyond measure.It’s crazy to think about, but as Fortune Finance recently reported, if you invested just $5.00 in Bitcoin seven years ago, you could have been sitting on $4.4 million today.

For Bitcoin, those days of incredible opportunity are gone, but there are still more chances just like it on the horizon.And that’s why we’re here: to help keep you informed about those opportunities wherever we find them.Every day we scour not just the public markets but also unique situations, like the world of cryptocurrencies, so you can stay in the loop.Jason Stutman is Wealth Daily's senior technology analyst and editor of investment advisory newsletters Technology and Opportunity and The Cutting Edge.His strategy for building winning portfolios is simple: Buy the disruptor, sell the disrupted.Covering the broad sector of technology and occasionally dabbling in the political sphere, Jason has written hundreds of articles spanning topics from consumer electronics and development stage biotechnology to political forecasting and social commentary.Outside the office Jason is a lover of science fiction and the outdoors, and an amateur squash player at best.He writes through the lens of a futurist, free market advocate, and fiscal conservative.