CNBC stated this week that top cryptocurrency Bitcoin is anticipated to continue its rise into 2024, reaching new all-time highs of more than $100,000 per unit.
This year, the digital asset has increased by more than 160%, trading above $44,200 on Saturday, up from $16,500 at the start of the year.
“It appears that [2023] was a year to prepare for the upcoming bull run.” However, the sentiment is really positive for [2024] and 25,” Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier was reported as saying by the news network.
In November 2021, Bitcoin reached a record high of approximately $69,000. However, approximately $1.4 trillion was wiped out of the crypto market last year due to industry bankruptcies. The fall of FTX, the world’s second-largest crypto exchange at the time of its insolvency, triggered the crisis, with its founder Sam Bankman-Fried now facing over 100 years in jail after being found guilty on seven charges of criminal fraud.
To add to the crypto sector’s woes, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao pled guilty to criminal charges and resigned as CEO as part of a $4.3 billion deal with the US Department of Justice last month. The former CEO of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange could face up to ten years in prison.
According to CNBC, many industry experts “see the two cases concluding as a line being drawn under issues that have plagued the crypto market.”
Experts also say the next Bitcoin ‘halving’ – a mechanism to limit supply – which takes place every four years and is scheduled for late April 2024, will be another source of price upside.
A number of market participants anticipate a bull run after the halving, but given the ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) news, we could see a run before that, leaving most investors on the sidelines. This might result in a significant price increase,” said Vijay Ayyar, vice president of international markets at cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX, to CNBC.
Standard Chartered Bank confirmed this month its April projection that Bitcoin would hit $100,000 by the end of 2024, if not sooner.
“We now anticipate more price upside before the halving than we did previously, owing to the earlier-than-expected introduction of US spot ETFs.” This means that the $100,000 target may be achieved by the end of 2024,” the bank added.
