Bitcoin (BTC) has continued to stumble into the weekend. As reported by NewsBTC yesterday, the cryptocurrency has found itself under the key $10,000 price point, managing to lose five digits for the umpteenth time in a matter of weeks.
This price action, which comes in stark contrast to the cheery predictions posted on Twitter just weeks earlier, has left many wondering — what is next for BTC? And more importantly, how far will the crypto market drop in this downturn?
Related Reading: Bitcoin Faces Weak Technicals, But Bank of China’s Interest in BTC May Be Bullish
Mike Novogratz, the chief executive of crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital, recently addressed these questions in an interview with Bloomberg’s Business News Network in Canada.
https://t.co/ihDGqlDTKC. Canadian TV
— Michael Novogratz (@novogratz) July 25, 2019
Not Fazed by Bitcoin Price Drawdown
As a true believer in this space, Novogratz seemed unfazed by the recent drop from $14,000 to $9,500. In fact, he claims that what comes next is a short period of consolidation for the cryptocurrency space, which may help to normalize expectations and mitigate another frothy bubble.
The former Goldman Sachs partner, who famously revealed in the last bull cycle that he had 20% of his net worth in Bitcoin and Ethereum, then noted that this consolidation is likely to let BTC range between $10,000 and $14,000.
Related Reading: Heads of Billion Dollar Institutions Are Buying Bitcoin: Crypto Investor
Should selling pressure persist, Novogratz notes that $8,500 is likely to be the ultimate low. $8,500 is a short-term bottom figure that other analysts have also recognized, as that is where there exists the closest CME futures gap. The Galaxy Digital chief isn’t betting on BTC heading that low. He said:
“I’m hoping it doesn’t get down there, but if it does, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
$20,000 by End of Year?
What is interesting is what Novogratz said about what is to come after the expected period of consolidation. Echoing statements he made in an interview conducted earlier this year, the former Wall Streeter suggested that should institutions continue to flood into this space, Bitcoin reaching $20,000 by year’s end is entirely possible.
Elaborating, the investor explained:
“I’m not selling the next time we hit $14,000. The second time we reach that level, [there may be] a move to $20,000. I don’t expect this to happen in the next few weeks: I don’t expect it to the middle or the end of the fourth quarter. But the next wave will come when the institutions — the state of X, Texas Teachers Union, and those guys — come in, and then you will see Bitcoin hit $20,000 and higher.”
The funny thing is that Novogratz isn’t the only prominent analyst with this thought process.
Speaking to Yahoo Finance a few weeks back, Thomas Lee, a co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors, noted that the launch of Facebook’s Libra, Donald Trump’s mention of the cryptocurrency space, overall institutional involvement, and further macroeconomic unrest could help Bitcoin in reaching the $20,000 to $40,000 range by the end of the year. He elaborates:
“Bitcoin is now trading at a level that it’s only seen 3% of its historical days. If you go back to every milestone that that was achieved, bitcoin subsequently rallied somewhere between 200% to 400% within the next four months, so I think if that’s playing out this time that means bitcoin could be $20,000 to $40,000 sometime in the fourth quarter.”
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