Bull Run Predicts $100K Bitcoin by 2024, Crypto Execs Optimistic

False Alarm Sends Bitcoin Markets Reeling

Executives in the cryptocurrency industry called the start of a new bull run with a growing number of voices calling for fresh all-time highs for Bitcoin in 2024 above $100,000.

Bitcoin has rallied more than 120% this year, with many optimistic about the surge continuing into 2024.

“It feels that [2023]was a year to prepare for the bull run yet to come. But the sentiment is very hopeful for [2024] and 25,” Pascal Gauthier, CEO of Ledger, told CNBC last week in an interview.

The digital currency’s last record high of nearly $69,00 was hit in November 2021.

Since then, the crypto industry has been hit with a litany of issues, from the collapse of coins and projects to bankruptcies and criminal trials. FTX, once one of the world’s biggest exchanges, collapsed with its founder Sam Bankman-Fried facing over 100 years in prison after he was found guilty on seven counts of criminal fraud.

Many in the industry see the two cases concluding as a line being drawn under issues that have plagued the crypto market.

Excitement around a bitcoin ETF being approved in the U.S. next year as well as the bitcoin halving is fueling a rally in cryptocurrencies. https://t.co/2L0gyVF0Vx https://t.co/2L0gyVF0Vx
— NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) December 4, 2023

“I think that once you get the speculative phase out of the way, which I think we’re almost done with, probably not yet completely done, then you can get real builders focusing on the technology and the problems that can be solved in the world, rather than just having a giant digital casino for people to trade,” David Marcus, CEO of Lightspark, told CNBC last week in an interview.

Marcus, the former leader of Facebook’s failed Diem stablecoin project, is now working on technology to improve Bitcoin as a payments network.

Now that those issues are out the way, investors are focused on what the industry sees as positive developments. The first is the growing excitement that a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF, might be approved soon. This could bring in larger traditional investors who previously did not want to touch crypto.

“I think what the ETF means really is that bitcoin is going mainstream, and that’s what people were waiting for,” Gauthier said.

The second development is the Bitcoin halving, which takes place every four years and is scheduled for May 2024. Halving is when miners, entities who uphold the Bitcoin network, see the rewards for their work cut in half. This keeps a cap on the supply of bitcoin — of which there will only be 21 million coins — and is often a factor behind a new rally.

“Several market participants expect a bull run sometime after the halving, but given the ETF news, we could very well have a run before that, leaving most investors on the sidelines. That could cause a massive upward run in the price,” Vijay Ayyar, vice president of international markets at cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX, told CNBC.

Bitcoin at $100,000?

There have already been some bold calls for Bitcoin in 2024.

It began with Standard Chartered last week, which reiterated an April price call that bitcoin would hit $100,000 by end of 2024. The bank said the approvals of numerous ETFs will drive this.

That would mean a roughly 160% rally from Friday’s price of around $38,413, according to CoinDesk data.

Matrixport, which bills itself as a crypto financial services firm, released a note last week projecting Bitcoin would reach $63,140 by April 2024 and $125,000 by the end of next year.

“Based on our inflation model, the macro environment will remain a robust tailwind for crypto. Another decline in inflation is anticipated, prompting the Federal Reserve to initiate interest rate cuts likely,” Matrixport said in its report.

“Combined with geopolitical crosscurrents, this healthy dose of monetary support should push Bitcoin to new highs in 2024.”

Bitcoin at $100,000?

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