Bitcoin surpassed $40,000 for the first time in 19 months, and Matrixport surpassed $125,000 in 2024.
Bitcoin (BTC) has reached the $40,000 level for the first time since late April 2022, up about 2% in 24 hours.
Bitcoin rose from under $39,500 to over $40,000 on December 3, hitting a 19-month high, according to CoinGecko data.
This is also Bitcoin’s highest of the year, up more than 140% since January 1. However, it is still down about 42% from its all-time high of over $69,000 on November 10, 2021.
In a note dated November 30, Matrixport head of research Markus Thielen predicted that Bitcoin would surpass $60,000 by next April and $125,000 by the end of 2024.
Thielen said the last three cryptocurrency bear markets have followed three-year bull cycles, and his analysis suggests “this bull market will take three more years, with 2023 being the first year.”
“Historically, years in which Bitcoin mining rewards have been halved have typically been bullish,” Thielen explained. Bitcoin is expected to be halved again in mid-April 2024 when mining rewards are cut by 50%.
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“Miners tended to stockpile Bitcoin before each halving, and the price was expected to increase by 200%, with Bitcoin reaching $125,000,” Thielen said.
Bitcoin’s price milestone comes amid speculation that a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) will soon be approved in the United States.
Standard Chartered predicted in a note dated November 28 that Bitcoin could hit six figures before the end of next year due to “faster-than-expected adoption” of spot ETFs in the US.
There are 13 bidders for spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. This is the latest news submitted on November 29 by Swiss asset manager Pando Asset. All, including BlackRock and Grayscale, are awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission. This is the agency that hashes the details of the ETF.
Bloomberg ETF analysts see a 90% chance that all pending ETF bids will be approved simultaneously by Jan. 10.
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