Bitcoin (BTC) is set to peak at $80 021 in 2021 before concluding the year at $71 415, according to predictions made by 50 fintech specialists via Finder.com’s latest Bitcoin Price Predictions Report.
The year-end figure is roughly 8% higher than the panel’s end-of-year prediction in July and 37% higher than it predicted in December 2020. Over a fifth of the panellists predict that BTC will reach $100 000 or higher.
Of the full panel, 46% say it’s time to hold on for dear life, 46% reckon it’s time to buy BTC, and the remaining 8% say it’s time to sell.
“I believe we are in the opening stages of rapid bitcoin adoption that will spread past El Salvador and Twitter and into more traditional areas,” says Gryphon Digital Mining CEO and director Rob Chang,
“As this occurs, the general public will be increasingly exposed to bitcoin and this shift from obscurity into the mainstream will catapult bitcoin prices higher for the next few years.”
Chang predicts that BTC will peak at $111 000 this year.
“Toss in halving events and we get structural reasons why the bitcoin price must head higher,” he adds.
The panel expects that Bitcoin will dip to $71 415 by the end of the year. While this is a drop from the anticipated peak, it is still a roughly 20% increase from its price at the time of writing.
The longer-term predictions for BTC seem even more dazzling.
“As such we expect a huge uplift in both the bitcoin price and its dominance in terms of percentage of total market capitalisation.”
Nagorskii predicts that BTC will end the year anywhere between $60 000 and $99 000, saying the approval of a BTC ETF will likely propel prices upward. He is part of the 60% of panellists who say they are in favour of a BTC ETF, while 22% are against it and 18% are unsure.
Arcane Research analyst Vetle Lunde, who is also in favour of a BTC ETF, says that “a futures-based ETF approval seems most likely, but anticipations leading into the final verdict of the physically-backed ETF filings could lead to surging prices.
“Overall, I believe the ETF narrative will add momentum to Bitcoin, as we currently see,” she says.
University of East London associate professor Dr Iwa Salami notes that an ETF will not only help current crypto investors diversify their portfolios but will encourage more retail investors to invest in the digital asset.
“Bitcoin ETFs [will] be a way to give more retail investors the opportunity to invest in this asset class without necessarily understanding the technology or going through the rigours of setting up a cryptocurrency exchange account,” she says.
“It [will] also help those who lack confidence in holding bitcoin directly, due to risks such as the potential of permanently losing them through the loss of the password of the wallet holding bitcoin and other digital assets.”
Panxora Crypto Hedge Fund general partner Gavin Smith is part of the 22% against a BTC ETF, saying there won’t be a need for one in the future.
“An ETF is trying to fill the gap because of inadequate custody arrangements available for bitcoin holdings that made it unfit for certain financial institutions,” he says. “As custody capabilities improve, the added layer of costs introduced by ETFs becomes less and less necessary.”
Moneyweb
