Bitcoin will experience a massive rally in 2023, rising by around 152%. Several experts predict this increase will continue this year.
In 2021, Bitcoin touched a record high, then experienced difficult times in 2022, which was marked by the collapse of important projects, liquidity problems and bankruptcy.
In 2022, the largest cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy. In 2023 its founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of all seven criminal charges brought against him by federal prosecutors in the US.
Then in 2023, Changpeng Zhao of Binance pleaded guilty to criminal charges and stepped down as CEO of the company as part of a US$ 4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice.
Read: Argentina Claims to Approve Bitcoin Use, Crypto Rises
After the two cases were resolved many cryptocurrency executives saw it as an opportunity to move forward.
So the executives called for the start of the increase. Marked from the bitcoin halving and potential approval of bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the United States.
The halving makes the supply of bitcoin limited, which will raise the price of this digital currency. Meanwhile US exchanges will approve the first Bitcoin ETF after years of opposition, meaning investors can buy the product and track prices without having to go to an exchange.
From this good news, here are several predictions made by bitcoin players, as reported by CNBC International:
Read: Elon Musk is the culprit behind the Bitcoin crash, traders get pranked again
Mark Mobius : US$ 60.000
In 2022, Mark Mobius correctly predicted that the price of bitcoin would fall to US$ 20,000.
This year, he again predicts that the price of this digital currency will reach US$ 60,000 by the end of the year.
"There is no reason for these predictions, except that a bitcoin ETF seems likely and has increased interest in the cryptocurrency," Mobius said
Youwei Yang: US$ 75,000
Chief Economist of Crypto Mining Company Bit Mining Youwei Yang estimates the price of bitcoin will reach a high of US$ 75,000.
Yang attributed the anticipated price increase to the approval of a bitcoin ETF, leading to higher institutional investment in bitcoin, as well as the halving of bitcoin in May 2024, which will result in the supply of bitcoin being limited.
"I estimate Bitcoin will trade at around US$ 25K to US$ 75K in 2024, and US$ 45K to US$ 130K in 2025," Yang said in an email note.
"While high prices are possible, not all investors will profit due to market volatility and human tendencies towards fear and greed," he continued.
Read: Robert Kiyosaki Predicts the US Will Become the Poorest Country in the World
CoinShares : US$ 80.000
Head of research at CoinShares, James Butterfill said the digital asset landscape is undergoing significant changes in 2024, driven by the potential approval of a Bitcoin ETF in the US.
"Estimates suggest that an investment increase of 20% of current assets under management (around US$3 billion) could potentially push the price of Bitcoin to US$80,000," he said.
Meanwhile, the scenario of central banks cutting interest rates could also "play a decisive role" in pushing bitcoin higher, Butterfill added.
The market will also look at factors beyond the halving it says are already baked into bitcoin, which could influence the price of the digital coin further.
Nexus: $100,000
Antoni Trenchev, a prominent bitcoin bull and co-founder of Nexo, a cryptocurrency exchange, believes that bitcoin could reach $100,000 by 2024.
In 2022, he called for bitcoin to reach US$ 100,000, but that did not happen. Instead, the price of bitcoin actually plummeted that year.
But in a note in December, Trenchev walked back his $100,000 call for 2024, citing the halving and the potential approval of several bitcoin ETFs.
Read: Crypto Compact Fire, Will Bitcoin Drop US$ 32,000?
Standard Chartered : US$ 100.000
In November, Standard Chartered doubled its US$ 100,000 bitcoin request made in April. The bank said this would be driven by the approval of many ETFs.
The halving will also support bitcoin, the bank said.
Carol Alexander: US$ 100.000
In 2022, University of Sussex finance professor Carol Alexander was quite successful in predicting the future price of bitcoin.
He estimates bitcoin will fall to US$10,000 by 2022. That year, bitcoin fell to about $15,480, according to CoinDesk data. For 2023, Alexander said bitcoin will rise to US$ 50,000. Bitcoin hit a yearly high of around US$44,700 in early December.
Alexander told CNBC that during the first quarter of 2024, bitcoin will trade in the US$ 40,000 to US$ 55,000 range.
But what's next will depend on when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission resolves charges against Coinbase and Binance, which may be necessary before approval of a bitcoin ETF.
Alexander said resolution of the fees would likely occur in the second or third quarter, after which the ETF would be approved and the price of bitcoin would rise to US$70,000, a new all-time high. But after that it depends on the capabilities of the ETF provider.
"Before the end of 2024, prices could exceed US$100,000, but only if Blackrock and Fidelity's market-making algorithms have the ability to reduce volatility," Alexander concluded.
Read: Crypto Twists and Turns in 2023, BTC Touches a Record in the Last 1.5 Years
Matrixport US$ 125.000
Matrixport, which bills itself as a crypto financial services company, released a note in November projecting that bitcoin would reach US$ 63,140 by April 2024 and US$ 125,000 by the end of next year.
"Based on our inflation model, the macro environment is expected to remain a strong driver for crypto. Another decline in inflation is expected to prompt the Federal Reserve to initiate interest rate cuts," Matrixport said in its report.
"Combined with geopolitical currents, this healthy monetary support will push Bitcoin to new highs in 2024," he continued.
CoinFund: Up to US$ 500.000
Venture capital CoinFund has one of the highest bitcoin price asks for 2024.
Managing Partner at CoinFund, Seth Ginns, said Bitcoin has an inverse correlation with the dollar and returns from the real sector, both of which are declining. Apart from that, ETF approval will be a positive sentiment.
Ginns said that bitcoin could reach a price of US$ 1,000,000 per coin in the next cycle. But he said a more reasonable expectation for 2024 would see bitcoin between US$250,000 and US$500,000.