This week, CNBC reported that industry analysts are predicting Bitcoin will continue to surge into 2024, which could take the token to new highs, of over $100,000 per token.
So far this year, the digital asset has been on a rally, gaining over 160% to trade above $44,200 as of Saturday, compared to $16,500 at the beginning of the year.
CEO of Ledger, Pascal Gauthier, was quoted by the network as saying, “It feels that [2023] was a year to get ready for the bull run that is yet to come. But the sentiment is very hopeful for [2024] and 25.”
In November of 2021, Bitcoin reached a record high of almost $69,000. However when the crypto market crashed last year and $1.4 trillion was wiped out amid bankruptcies in the sector, the value of the tokens plunged. As the crisis unfolded, it caused the collapse of the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, FTX, and exposed the fraud and embezzlement of customer funds by CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who now faces over 100 years in prison following his conviction on seven counts of criminal fraud.
Adding to the sector’s woes, was the settlement struck with the Department of Justice by the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, and its founder Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty to criminal charges and stepped down from his position as CEO of the company as part of the settlement, which also involved the exchange paying $4.3 billion in fines. When he is sentenced, Zhao may face up to ten years in prison due to charges of money-laundering.
CNBC noted, experts in the sector, “see the two cases concluding as a line being drawn under issues that have plagued the crypto market.”
Analysts also note there will be another “halving” of Bitcoin, a process designed to limit supply of the token. There is a halving every four years, with the next one scheduled for the end of April in 2024. That will also be a source of upward pressure on the price.
Vijay Ayyar, vice president of international markets at cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX, said to CNBC, “A number of market participants are expecting a bull run some time after the halving, but given the ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) 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.”
Standard Chartered Bank issued a note last month, reiterating its forecast from April, which predicted that Bitcoin would hit $100,000 by the end of 2024, and it could hit that price even earlier.
It said, “We now expect more price upside to materialize before the halving than we previously did, specifically via the earlier-than-expected introduction of US spot ETFs. This suggests a risk that the $100,000 level could be reached before end-2024.”
