Bitcoin has been on the lips of many crypto investors and news outlets for the past few months as major investment companies like BlackRock look to bring on Spot Bitcoin ETFs. The world’s largest digital currency has also seen an increase in price in the past few months as a result of this, ranging around $30,000 for almost a month.
Now, Fundstrat, an equity research firm based in New York City, has made a daring bullish prediction on the price of BTC. According to the investment research firm, the price of the cryptocurrency could reach $180,000 before its April 2024 halving.
Fundstrat Makes Bullish Bitcoin Prediction
In a Monday note to its clients, the firm put forward that BTC’s price could be on the verge of skyrocketing in the next year. A big part of their prediction revolves around the possibility of the trading of Spot Bitcoin ETFs by investment firms spearheaded by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with over $9 trillion in assets. If approved, Spot Bitcoin ETFs could open the gates for mainstream investors and institutions to pour billions of dollars into Bitcoin.
The investment research firm said that the current daily demand for BTC currently at $25 million could skyrocket to $100 million with Spot Bitcoin ETFs. This would put bitcoin ETFs in direct rivalry with the market for precious metals ETFs, which currently has a total market capitalization of approximately $230 billion.
“This [bitcoin ETF launch] would bring daily demand to $125 million, while daily supply is only $25 million. The implied equilibrium price would need to rise so daily supply matches daily demand,” Fundstrat said in the research note.
Fundstrat’s head of digital asset strategy, Sean Farrell, also added: “We anticipate [a bitcoin ETF] would attract new investors and generate increased demand for bitcoin.”
BTC price recovers slightly to $29,227 | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com
Upcoming BTC Halving
Another thing the research note mentions is the influence of the upcoming Bitcoin halving. Done once approximately every four years, the Bitcoin halving cuts in half the reward given to miners for mining a block on the blockchain. Past halvings have been known to reduce inflationary pressure on BTC, thereby steadily increasing its price.
According to Fundstrat, the impending reduction of the daily mining incentive to $6 million from its current $12 million would result in a sizeable increase in the price of Bitcoin in order to achieve a state of equilibrium between buyers and sellers. The effect of the halving is then expected to compound with the Spot Bitcoin ETFs, leading to a greater price increase.
Coincidentally, Fundstrat is not the only firm anticipating BTC reaching the $100,000 mark in the near future. In April, Standard Chartered predicted that a unit of Bitcoin would go for more than $100,000 by the end of 2024.