The Bitwise CIO believes that Bitcoin will not set any further price records for the remainder of 2021, but may instead rally in 2022.
According to Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan, Bitcoin (BTC) will not hit the $100K threshold before thE year runs out. In fact, Hougan believes that the leading digital currency may not set new record highs this year. However, he offered a silver lining by suggesting that the price target may be achievable in 2022. As Hougan put it:
“$100,000 by the end of the year is a difficult prediction to make […] I think $100,000 could be in target in 2022 but this year, I’m not so sure.”
Months earlier, some market watchers and investors – most notably pseudonymous Dutch investor PlanB – favored BTC to hit $100K by end-of-year. In fact, PlanB, popular for his stock-to-flow (S2F) model, recently doubled down on his $100K forecast. Other proponents that championed BTC at $100K include the crypto research unit at banking giant Standard Chartered. The list also includes Anthony Scaramucci, chief executive officer at New York-based global investment firm SkyBridge Capital. Furthermore, popular longtime Bitcoin proponent Anthony Pompliano is also very bullish on Bitcoin. Pomplliano is a co-founder at Morgan Creek Digital Assets.
Hougan’s reason for speculating that BTC may set new all-time highs next year – instead of during the remainder of the year is practical. The CIO explains that this is due to the growing support the token is getting from mainstream institutions. According to him, the support will serve as a fundamental driver, even as several institutions are still making their debut in the market.
Away from Bitcoin, Bitwise CIO Also Picks Altcoins to Perform Well in 2022
In addition, Hougan forecasts that there will be a massive surge in Ethereum-powered activities and layer-one solutions next year. He explains that much of this push will come from the need to improve the network to accommodate sophisticated offerings, instead of creating a different protocol altogether. In Hougan’s own words:
“Investors are going to be looking at Ethereum, Solana, or Polygon. Investors are starting to realize there’s more to crypto than just Bitcoin. If there’s one bigger story for next year, it’s going to be everything else: crypto as DeFi, NFTs, Web3, or metaverse.”
Although Hougan is banking on a rousing performance from the altcoins next year, some prominent personalities within the crypto space still stand by BTC. For instance, Bobby Lee, founder and CEO of Ballet – a crypto hardware wallet, belongs to that latter category. According to Lee, BTC is more valuable than the altcoins because the largest crypto by market cap is not dependent on any contingencies. In Lee’s words, these include “any sort of project, or a promise that can fail.”
As of press time, BTC is changing hands at $51,290. This is a considerable recovery from its earlier position under $47K early this month. The leading crypto began 2021 at around $30K, hitting a new all-time high of $69K+ last month.
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