Bitcoin's recent rally has put it within reach of all-time highs, but some experts say this is just the beginning.
The most popular cryptocurrency soared to $63,100 before falling slightly on Friday afternoon, according to CoinGecko. The coin is currently up over 30% since the beginning of the year and nearly 170% compared to this time last year.
Just a few thousand dollars away from the all-time high of $69,044 set at the height of the 2021 crypto bull market, experts believe Bitcoin will finally reach the coveted six-digit level this cycle. We predict that there is a possibility that this will be exceeded.
The approval of mainstream financial institutions that issue ETFs, such as BlackRock and Fidelity, has helped lure investors to cryptocurrencies, said Stephen Lubka, managing director and head of retail clients at Swan Bitcoin. luck. Exchange-traded products have made it easier for individuals to buy with their money than ever before, making it easier for people to add Bitcoin exposure to their retirement accounts, which has led to some detractors. He added that it helped persuade him.
“People who were once skeptical are now open-minded,” Lubka said.
Although Lubka cautioned that no one has a crystal ball, he said that with the influx of Bitcoin ETFs, Bitcoin could reach $300,000 in the next 18 months. This cash inflow is driven in part by marketing and promotions on the part of the issuer. But Lubka said the ETF has only been trading for about two months, and companies have a lot more in store.
“What I know pretty accurately is that the promotion hasn't even started in earnest yet,” he said. “We're in the early stages of their marketing efforts. We're getting it directly from some publishers.”
Even if new entrants allocate only a small portion of their assets to cryptocurrencies (one Fidelity research report recommends a 2% to 4% allocation to assets), This represents a multi-billion dollar investment that is already starting to pay off. That includes inflows into the most popular Bitcoin ETFs, Lubka said.
On Friday, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the largest of the ETFs, received a record $612 million in inflows in one day, pushing its assets under management to more than $10 billion. And already, according to Bank of America Global Research's Flow Show team, led by investment strategist Michael Hartnett, the $7.7 billion in bitcoin inflows since the beginning of the year has pushed bitcoin to an all-time high. This exceeds all inflows from 2021 that were reached.
The U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETF returned an average of $212 million per calendar day in February, Zack Pandle, managing director of research at Grayscale, which issues one of the Spot Bitcoin ETFs, said in a statement. He said he brought it.
William Quigley also said that Bitcoin's recent rise is also influenced by the impending “halving'', and he succeeded in issuing Bitcoin on the blockchain in order to slow down the circulation of Bitcoin. He stated that the virtual currency rewards issued to miners will be halved by the end of April. Co-founder of stablecoin Tether and WAX blockchain.
Quigley cautioned that the data is limited, but given the past three halvings, which have seen Bitcoin's price rise many times over, Bitcoin could rise further. He added that there is.
He said that based on historical trends, Bitcoin's price typically peaks six months after the halving and declines significantly 18 months later, but should settle somewhere above its pre-halving price. added.
“I would probably tell people, if you're going to get into Bitcoin, do it by November 2024,” he said.
Quigley said. luck He said he believes the price of Bitcoin will continue to rise, although he cautioned that investors should not get caught up in herd mentality. He predicts the bull market could start in October or November and last about a year, with Bitcoin reaching a peak price of $250,000.
Still, Quigley warned that unless sentiment holds out over the long term, investors could get caught up in the hype and lose money if sentiment around Bitcoin changes in the future.
“I tell everyone who is thinking of getting into Bitcoin that I won't buy Bitcoin unless I can hold it for at least five years,” he said.
