A strong appreciation of Bitcoin of 65% and a price of $70k by the end of the year – this is the prediction of Markus Thielen, head of the research division of 10X Research.
“Supported by the macro environment, monetary headwinds, the US election cycle and a gradual increase in demand from traditional finance investors moving into bitcoin exchange-traded funds, a bitcoin rally to $70k looks possible”, said Markus Thielen.
As for the sluggish price movement since the start of the year, Markus Thielen notes that while bitcoin has gained in value in 10 of its 13 years of existence, January’s return has been a more mixed performance, with seven gains to six declines.
A year ago, Markus Thielen correctly predicted that bitcoin would almost double its price to $45k by the end of 2023. And while he didn’t know that in January spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds would again fail to gain approval, he expects this month’s value of the coin to return to the mid-highs of the $30k range.
“Even if the Fed pushes the first rate cut until (likely) May or June, inflation is slowing and growth is holding back”, said Markus Thielen. He also drew attention to the US election cycle, which coincides with the year in which Bitcoin is due for its so-called halving. This is a historically bullish factor for the market – in 2012, Bitcoin gained 152%, 121% in 2016, and 302% in 2020. That’s an average gain of 192%.
