Bitcoin ‘untouchable’ amid regulatory pressure, says analyst

by · April 3, 2023

Bitcoin (BTC) is “untouchable” despite ongoing regulatory pressure in the crypto sector, and those with no crypto exposure are “seriously stupid” according to Bloomberg senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone.

During an April 3 stream with crypto podcaster Scott Melker, McGlone argued that unlike other cryptocurrencies like Ether (ETH), Bitcoin could not be killed by regulators because it is more decentralized.

“There’s so much disdain about regulators pushing back on the whole space, and that’s the key where Bitcoin sticks out,” McGlone said.

“You can’t do anything about this, and you can’t kill it, and it’s just outstanding; it is untouchable.”

“You can argue that Ethereum is a security when you hear about all these upgrades and people doing this and people doing that to make it better, I think it’s a little scary, I can’t do that with Bitcoin, it’s the reason it’s nice and impressive,” McGlone added.

The crypto sector has faced a wave of crackdowns in the US recently, with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charging crypto exchange Kraken over its betting services, and then suing stablecoin issuer Paxos over Binance USD (BUSD). The regulator also proposed rule changes aimed at crypto firms operating as custodians.

McGlone stated that he remains bullish on BTC, but expects the price to decline again in line with other assets if a recession occurs.

Back in January, he warned that BTC may not see the rise predicted just yet, as there are challenging macroeconomic conditions and pressure from interest rate hikes.

According to McGlone, the April 2 decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut daily oil production makes a recession more likely, as well as rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to curb inflation.

“We had our morning call this morning and our economist Anna Wong said, Yes, their bottom line is that the recession will start in the third quarter,” he said.

“OPEC is helping it. Fed tightening is helping it. So all assets have to come down. That means Bitcoin as well. It’s the fastest horse in the race. So I’m overall, certainly relatively bullish.”

Related: Bitcoin likely to outperform all crypto assets after banking crisis, analyst explains

In McGlone’s opinion, it is “seriously stupid” to risk having no exposure to crypto or trying to stand in its way.

“The key I see simplistically for Bitcoin is, if you’re a money manager, why take the risk of not having some of this revolutionary asset, especially because it’s so controversial, you want to have at least something in it because you don’t I don’t want to see looking like an idiot over the story, he said.

“The smart guys get it; we’re not going to be a Blockbuster or Sears, and we’re going to be part of this technology.”

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