Bitcoin Briefly Over $5,000: Where Do Experts See it Going in Near-Term?

When Moon? That’s the question that crypto investors have been speculating about since the devastating, heavily-publicized Bitcoin (BTC) crash was ingrained in the minds of consumers the world over. As this inquiry has effectively been unanswered, some have begun to doubt that the moon even exists, as they look jealously at the Lamborghinis that speculators obtained in 2017’s bull rally.

Two prominent industry commentators, however, recently weighed in on the subject matter, giving investors a fleeting look at where Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could end up in the future. And funnily enough, the future is brighter than some may think, but it may not be exactly what people expect.

Short-Term Bearish, Long-Term Bullish On Bitcoin

At Token2049, Murad Mahmudov and Arjun Balaji took to the stage to give their thoughts on the cryptocurrency market. The crowd wasn’t initially pleased with what they had to say.

Short-term, Mahmudov, the chief investment officer of recently-launched cryptocurrency fund Adaptive Capital, is sure that Bitcoin hasn’t bottomed yet. Doubling-down on a number of calls he has made on Twitter over recent weeks, the trader explained that he fully expects for BTC to “dip into the high $2,000s” or even lower (not under $2,000 though) before an eventual rally higher.

Related Reading: Traders Bet 1 BTC on Bitcoin Plunging to $1,500 Before Rising to $6,500: Is it Possible?

Balaji, the managing partner at Shomei Capital and a frequent contributor at The Block, echoed his fellow speaker’s thoughts to a tee. He quipped that the bottom is far from in, explaining that a move to the low-$2,000s likely isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Interestingly, however, BTC embarked on a monumental rally on Tuesday morning, quashing bearish sentiment across the board. With this move, which brought the cryptocurrency briefly above $5,000, BTC surpassed its 200-day moving average, which analysts have seen as a key resistance to watch for nearly one year. If Bitcoin holds and builds support above its 200-day moving average, currently situated at $4,600, some are sure that the chance for lower lows drops dramatically.

$BTC > 200 day moving average.

— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) April 2, 2019

But that’s where the Token2049 presenters’ tones shifted from short-term bearish to long-term bullish. Mahmudov, who has quickly risen to legendary status in the industry, noted that while BTC is in its early stages, Bitcoin as superior money will begin to make a move on fiat and gold, especially as the Lindy Effect gives the cryptocurrency more credibility with the processing of blocks over time. The investor even airs out the possibility that BTC won’t become the number one store of value, explaining that regardless, the asset will be trading at an order of magnitude higher than it is now. As Mahmudov added, “Bitcoin is here to stay — $60 billion is just the beginning.”

In their final comments on Bitcoin, the investors opined that the moon — defined as them as $100,000 per BTC — will likely come to fruition by 2022 or 2023. But as they hinted at earlier, the road to six figures may not exactly be clear-cut, as there remain a number of uncertainties in this market.

Skeptical Of Ethereum

While Balaji and Mahmudov see bright futures ahead of Bitcoin, their presentation made it clear that they don’t feel the same hope towards Ethereum, a smart contracting platform whose dominance has slowly waned.

The Adaptive Capital partner flat-out explains that from his point of view, Ether is overpriced, citing his skepticism that decentralized applications — if the blockchain can solve its scalability concerns — hold a purpose. Moreover, he explains that the only reason that the cryptocurrency rallied as it did was solely due to the token sale boom, which Ethereum was the primary component of, as both a platform for token issuance and a way to purchase tokens.

Related Reading: Crypto Research Claims Ethereum PoS Unsustainable, Vitalik Hits Back

Balaji shared this line of thought. The Block contributor postures that Ethereum is in the midst of an existential crisis, as the project’s core developers scrap ideas for a “multi-year transition” to an unproven consensus mechanism. Although this technically-intensive move could result in a newfound innovation cycle, creating actually viable decentralized applications that can garner a mainstream audience, Balaji notes that until the ICO narrative is quashed, he would be skeptical of the project.

Interestingly, however, there has been a large amount of growth in the decentralized finance facet of Ethereum recently, giving investors hope that there is more than just gambling smart contracts, token sales, and decentralized pyramid schemes on the platform. This slipped under the radar of the Token2049 presenters, however. But that seems to be how the cookie crumbles as of late, as the bearish market has made many stakeholders return to their Bitcoin-focused roots.

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