How bitcoin could hit $100K in 2024: Analyst
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) continues its massive rally after the cryptocurrency briefly reached a new record high above $69,000, touching back down to $67,000 today. Some analysts believe that bitcoin could reach a record benchmark of $100,000 by the end of 2024, but retail investors haven't come off the sideline yet.
Nexo Co-Founder Antoni Trenchev joins Yahoo Finance to discuss why he believes $100,000 is "in the cards" for the cryptocurrency and which subset of investors are responsible for the wild swings in bitcoin's value.
Tenchev defends his position: "In crypto, we care about purchasing power and sound money, so the inflation adjusted all time high is now at $79,000. And so we have a little bit yet to climb to reach that. If you permit me this joke, but I think what is most important here is that macroeconomic backdrop is perfect. Last time we were trading at those levels, interest rates closer to 0, now they're about 5%. You have to think about structurally who's holding bitcoin."
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino
Video Transcript
[AUDIO LOGO]
RACHELLE AKUFFO: Looking at Bitcoin now clawing back some of the losses from yesterday. At least in the green today standing at about $66,875. Now, this comes after the cryptocurrency surpassed $69,000 blowing past its all time peak briefly and then taking a tumble. Our next guest called for Bitcoin to hit $100,000 in 2024, but retail investors still haven't come off the sidelines yet.
To break down what the latest swings signal for crypto investor sentiment, Antoni Trenchev, Nexo co-founder, is here. Good to have you back on the show here. So how much of the movements that we've seen so far in this past week are about investor sentiment versus some profit taking or some other factors at play?
ANTONI TRENCHEV: Well, to me $100,000 is, you know, in the cards for this year. So I think we have a long way to go. In crypto, we care about purchasing power and sound money. So the inflation adjusted all-time high is now at $79,000 and so we have a little bit yet to climb to reach that if you permit me this joke.
But I think what is most important here is that the macroeconomic backdrop is perfect. Last time, we were trading at those levels, interest rates were closer to zero. Now they're above 5%.
And then you have to think about, structurally, who's holding Bitcoin. It is people like me who you would have a very hard time convincing to sell their Bitcoin. Push comes to shove, I might buy some put options, but that's as far as I would go.
Then the ETFs are just gobbling up all the supply that is out there. And you have some hot money traders on the long and the short side. And those are the ones who are responsible for the wild swings we saw yesterday, for instance.
AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, the gains in Bitcoin are certainly going to benefit you Nexo, which is in exchange, right? I mean what kind of surge in activity have you seen personally for Nexo. And talk to me about that mix of investors you just talked about. How is this different from what we saw when the last peak was hit in November of 2021?
ANTONI TRENCHEV: Well, at Nexo we service close to 6 million clients at present. And we have Bitcoin holders and believers who went long a very long time ago, as low as $20,000 when they invested. So they're up several hundred percent.
What they're doing right now is they borrow against their holdings, which at a loan to value ratio of about 50%, you can take out the capital that you invested. And if God forbid, you know, we end up with Bitcoin being worthless-- I doubt this is what happened-- is you have protected your capital. So we see a lot of people that are just borrowing against their crypto.
We see some institutions coming in, companies and startups, that have invested in crypto coming on board as clients. But you know, what it really is missing is the frenzy of retail buyers, new people coming in, retail buyers. And this is usually indicative of the top so I think we're still quite far from it.
