Bitcoin made an impressive leap in the first half of 2023, reaching $30,000 again for the first time in months. It came after a rough 2022, when the world's largest cryptocurrency plunged more than 60% as market players grappled with a series of notable industry crashes, including Terra, Celsius and FTX. But 2023 has been very different, so far. Prices have risen and big-name institutions have made bold moves in the space, most notably US asset management titan BlackRock filing for a spot bitcoin ETF. At the same time, a number of regulatory actions have been taken against crypto industry heavyweights, such as securities lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, which have added significant uncertainty to the mix. What's next for bitcoin? The dizzying rally in the digital currency has taken many traders by surprise, and also marked the return of volatility for the asset. After a more than 80% rise in the bitcoin price in the first half of 2023, crypto market watchers told CNBC Pro how they expect the cryptocurrency to perform in the second half of the year. The world's top digital currency last traded at $30,217.83, according to data from CoinGecko. Five market experts responded to CNBC's questions via email, with three saying they expect Bitcoin to reach the $50,000 level by the end of 2023. $50,000? Carol Alexander, a finance professor at the University of Sussex, called the cryptocurrency's march to $30,000 by early 2023. She said large buy orders from big holders known as "whales" and renewed investor buys Institutionals could push the bitcoin price as high as $50,000 - or even $70,000 - by the end of the year. "If regulators don't gain ground, institutional buyouts will be the main driving force for the bitcoin price to rise and it could top $50,000 by the end of the year, even hitting a new ALT [all-time high] of around $70,000," he told CNBC Pro via email. "But if regulators, especially the SEC, do well to reign in Binance and other centralized exchanges like Deribit, the crypto options exchange, the price could end up below The prediction was echoed by British bank Standard Chartered. Geoff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, said he was optimistic Bitcoin would jump to that level, citing signs of declining prices. sales by miners, entities with purpose-built computing equipment that verify transactions on the blockchain."As of Q1 2023 (latest complete data set), the 12 largest listed miners, representing 20% of all global BTC mining, sold 106% of BTC mined (reserves pushed it over 100%). We estimate this was slightly below 100% for Q2," Kendrick said. "However, if the BTC price rises to around $50,000, which we expect by the end of 2023, the share of new mines sold should drop to 20-30%. That's a net annual reduction in 250,000 BTC sales, a large amount relative to bitcoin market turnover." 2024 of around $100,000." Antoni Trenchev, CEO of crypto lending firm Nexo, told CNBC that he "would not be surprised to see Bitcoin between $40,000 and $50,000 by the end of 2023. According to Trenchev, a major potential catalyst for Bitcoin to rise further would be if the Federal Reserve sends a strong signal to the market that it plans to end its tightening cycle Manager Mark Mobius of Mobius Capital Partners and venture capitalist Tim Draper of Draper Associates Mobius said he expects Bitcoin to rise to $40,000 by the end of 2023, citing investors' "belief" in the digital currency year-end prediction for bitcoin, but said he believes it will top $250,000 by the end of 2024, extending a previous prediction he made so that the token hits that level in mid-2022. Another thing being closely watched is the possible approval of a bitcoin ETF. BlackRock first applied to launch the iShares Bitcoin Trust in June, and Fidelity followed suit two weeks ago. after. WisdomTree, VanEck and Invesco have also taken steps towards their own funds. However, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to approve any, and many don't expect this to happen in 2023. โ CNBC's Kevin Schmidt contributed to this report.
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After an 80% rally for bitcoin, market experts predict where itโs going next in 2023
