Bitcoin predictions have been rolled out with the start of the new year. These predictions come from prominent personalities in the space who have shared where they think the price of the digital asset is headed. Some of these are bullish while others err more on the bearish side. Here are the top 5 bitcoin predictions for the year 2023 from most bullish to most bearish.
Tim Draper Says $250,000
Billionaire Tim Draper has always had high hopes for bitcoin, giving it a $250,000 price mark for the year 2023. While Draper has adjusted the timeline a bit, he has not let up on his prediction. In an email to CNBC, the billionaire investor reiterated that he believes that the digital asset is still headed for $250,000.
According to him, the more women, who control 80% of retail spending, are drawn into BTC, the price of the asset will explode. He expects the $250,000 mark to be reached before the next bitcoin halving, saying he expects the “halvening in 2024 will have a positive run.”
Carol Alexander Puts Bitcoin At $50,000
Another prediction that the CNBC report highlights is that of a professor of finance at Sussex University. Professor Carol Alexander takes a more conservative stance compared to Tim Draper with her prediction that the digital asset would hit $50,000 sometime in 2023.
However, Alexander does not expect this to happen soon but rather believes that it would be in Q3 or Q4 2023 when this would happen. She expects another bull market in the year but nothing like the previous one as she believes will be a “managed bull managed.” As for who will drive this, the professor expects large BTC whales to be behind the rally.
“We’ll see a month or two of stable trending prices interspersed with range-bounded periods and probably a couple of short-lived crashes,” Alexander told CNBC.
Erik Voorhees Goes With $40,000
Erik Voorhees is a notable name in the crypto space being the founder of the ShapeShift exchange. Coming through with his prediction for the year, Voorhees told Bankless in a Monday interview that he expects the price of bitcoin to reach $40,000 by June. While not as bullish as the first two, it would be about a 150% increase from the current price.
One thing that Voorhees couldn’t decide on though was when he expects the next bull market to happen. He put a timeline of around six months to 3 years for when the next bull run would likely happen. However, he believes that there is a revolution going on regardless of whether there is a bull or bear market.
BTC price at mid-$16,000 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
Mark Mobius Goes Lower With $10,000
Deviating completely from the incredibly bullish predictions of others, Mark Mobius, a veteran investor, told CNBC that he actually expects bitcoin to fall to $10,000 in 2023. He points to the interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve as being a deterrent for investors who may be interested in buying or holding bitcoin. For him, since bitcoin does not pay any interest, it does not entice investors.
For Mobius’ prediction, if it does come to pass, it would mean another 50% decline for the digital asset in the year 2023 after crashing more than 60% in 2022. But the investor sticks to his guns as he expects this to be the case.
Standard Chartered Goes Scorched Earth At $5,000
Perhaps an interesting thing about bitcoin and its investors is that it is not expected that bitcoin would fall even close to the previous market bottom but Standard Chartered does not share this sentiment. The global banking giant released its predictions for BTC which turned out to be arguably one of the most bearish cases for the industry so far.
The bank expects the price of BTC to fall another 70% and reach as low as $5,000 in 2023. It points to the fact that technology shares continue to decline and expects bitcoin to do so too, as well as the reduced liquidity in the crypto sector pushing many companies to file for bankruptcy.
“More and more crypto firms and exchanges find themselves with insufficient liquidity, leading to further bankruptcies and a collapse in investor confidence in digital assets,” said Eric Robertsen, Standard Chartered’s global head of research.
Bonus – Mike McGlone Guns For $100,000
In 2022, Bloomberg analyst and Senior Commodity Strategist Mike McGlone gave his own predictions for the future of bitcoin but placed it on a much longer timeframe compared to others. McGlone expects the price of BTC to reach $100,000 but not until 2025.
His own prediction hinges on the simple supply and demand framework. The analyst says the supply of the cryptocurrency is on the decline and demand is going up. Given this, he believes that it is only a “matter of time” until the digital asset is trading at $100,000.
Featured image from MARCA, chart from TradingView.com
