Fundstrat analyst admits BTC rate will rise to $150 000 this year

What’s new? Tom Lee, head of research at analytics firm Fundstrat, believes bitcoin could hit the $150 000 mark this year. “You have demand improving with the new ETFs, you have supply shrinking with the halving, and if monetary policy eases which we expect, that's supportive for risk assets,” Lee explained in an interview with CNBC.

CNBC’s material

Halving is code’s embedded cut in half of the reward to miners for a mined block on the blockchain, which occurs approximately every four years. Initially, miners received 50 BTC; on November 28, 2012, the number dropped to 25 BTC, on July 9, 2016, to 12,5 BTC, and on May 11, 2020, to 6,25 BTC. In April 2024, the award will be cut to 3,125 BTC.

What else is known? Lee’s comments came amid a slowdown in bitcoin’s momentum after a 35% rise over the past few weeks to $53 000, the highest price in 26 months. At the same time, the expert still believes that “Bitcoin’s been holding up. I do not think a drawdown is going to start that soon.”

For his part, LMAX Group market strategist Joel Kruger suggested caution in the short term in a comment to CoinDesk, noting the potential volatility due to changes in central bank policies and the effects of global macroeconomic weakness that could temporarily affect crypto markets. He added that any downturn would provide an opportunity to take strategic positions.

Specialists at analytics firm Swissblock said that the overall bitcoin picture remains bullish, but a pullback to lower prices may first occur before the uptrend resumes. They explained that “the current scenario may necessitate a period of consolidation or even a retracement to the $47 500 support level.” Such a correction would help reduce excess volatility and strengthen market stability before a possible further upward move, the experts added.

Number of large BTC transactions rose to a maximum for the first time since June 2022

Since the beginning of 2024, wallets with balances of 100-1000 BTC have been actively selling, while addresses with 1000-10 000 coins have been actively accumulating cryptocurrency

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Earlier, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju predicted that the BTC exchange rate would rise to $112 000 on the back of an inflow of funds from spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Crypto trader Michaël van de Poppe stated that the net inflow of funds into spot exchange-traded bitcoin ETFs is a bullish catalyst for the first cryptocurrency.