Bitcoin ($BTC) price rises to $30,000 in second half of 2023, says VanEck
A fund manager at investment giant VanEck has predicted that the price of flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin ($BTC) could rise to $30,000 in the second half of 2023 after falling to a low near $10,000 to $12,000.
In a blog post with crypto predictions for the next year, VanEck’s head of digital assets Matthew Sigel wrote that he believes a wave of cryptocurrency miner bankruptcies will “mark the low point of the crypto winter” and will see BTC’s price bottom around $10,000 to $12,000.
Sigel added that Bitcoin is then expected to rise as “lower inflation, easing energy concerns, a possible ceasefire in Ukraine and a turnaround in M2 supply” will help it grow. Per Sigel, one reason BTC reacted poorly to rate hikes is that the “policy response to higher inflation in developed markets has been to try to cap energy prices, expand sanctions and micromanage economic activity to facilitate” the energy transition.
In developed markets, the analyst wrote, VanEck believes consumers will see the cryptocurrency act as a store of value and a hedge against M2 inflation rather than open inflation. In emerging markets, it will focus on remittances and neutral alternatives to a “dollar hegemony.” Sigel added:
Meanwhile, should our recessionary expectations materialize, the Federal Reserve is likely to halt interest rate hikes amid slowing inflation, while money printing and government budget deficits continue. Just a lack of bad crypto-specific news, under the above scenario, could cause the price of Bitcoin to climb a wall of worry back to $30K again.
M2, it is worth noting, is a measure of the money supply that includes both M1 and so-called “near money” assets. M1 consists of cash and checking deposits, while near-money refers to savings deposits, money market securities, and other time deposits under $100,000. These assets are less liquid and not as readily exchangeable as M1, but can be quickly converted to cash or checking deposits.
The analyst’s predictions for the coming year include institutions using blockchain technology to “simplify custody and settlement” and the tokenization of more than $10 billion in off-chain assets.
Also, Sigel sees a nation announcing that it is adding BTC and other digital assets to its sovereign wealth fund next year. His prediction pointed out that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is “already mining Bitcoin, but on a small scale.”
He also sees Ripple losing its legal battle against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ethereum ($ETH) enabling withdrawals from the Beacon Chain. As CryptoGlobe reported, Ethereum’s core developers have set March 2023 as the tentative date for “Shanghai,” which is Ethereum’s next network upgrade, and could bring in Beacon Chain withdrawals.
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