Last night, the countdown on the Bitcoin halving reached zero, and the block reward miners receive was cut in half. The event has widely been expected to be bullish, with valuation models suggesting the asset will skyrocket from here.
However, some analysts aren’t so sure. We’ve gathered the conflicting thoughts of some of the finance industry’s top minds to find out why analysts are so divided on what to expect resulting from the event.
Analysts Are Bullish on BTC Post-Halving, Point to $100K Valuations Due to Scarcity
Bitcoin price is currently trading at roughly $8,900, about a thousand dollars less than it peaked at a week ago.
Prior to this, Bitcoin fell to under $4,000 on Black Thursday, but immediately after made a sharp, V-shaped recovery. The asset also made yet another attempt to reclaim $10,000, but ultimately failed.
But the halving is expected to be a bullish event, and the reduction of the already scarce supply puts the fair market price per BTC much higher than current prices are trading at.
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Muneeb Ali, co-founder of Blockstack and Michael Sonnenshein, managing director with Grayscale Investments both agree that the current fiscal stimulus efforts combined with a reducing BTC supply could lead to much higher prices in the months ahead.
Zac Prince, CEO and co-founder of BlockFi, thinks that the price per BTC could reach as high as $100,000 before 2023. Prince used oil as an example of how the halving may impact prices.
“Imagine if OPEC cut production in half overnight. what would happen to the price of oil? It would go up,” Prince posited to CNN.
Other Side of The Coin: Analysts Claim Bitcoin Halving is Priced In
On the other side of the coin, however, analysts aren’t so convinced.
Adam Traidman, CEO and co-founder of BRD claims that the Bitcoin halving is merely a “temporal and technical event that has no bearing on” the asset’s long-term value.
Alex Mashinsky, CEO and founder of Celsius Network as well as YouTuber and investors Preston Pysh believe that the cryptocurrency will likely trade sideways for some time now that the Bitcoin halving has passed.
Mashinsky believes that the halving is now priced in, and any money has already been made.
Gavin Smith, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Panxora agrees.
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“There was a psychological impact when we approached the halving due to the significant reduction in supply. But the easy money in bitcoin has been made,” Smith explained.
Daniel Polotsky, CEO of CoinFlip, claims that its far too soon to use Bitcoin as a form of payment, however, fails to remember that Bitcoin can be used as store of value, transfer of wealth, and a solution for when banks simply aren’t.
Polotsky did have some wise words of advice, however. He reveals that owning Bitcoin isn’t a sprint, but a “marathon,” and adds that “You need to own bitcoin for decades. A majority of traders will lose money trying to time market moves.”