© Reuters
Investing.com – The price of could reach $150,000 by 2025, Bernstein said Tuesday in a note citing optimism about a bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani said the firm expects the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve a bitcoin ETF by the first quarter of 2024.
This bullish estimate is about five times the current price of around $34,000 and more than double bitcoin’s all-time high of over $67,000 reached in November 2021.
Bernstein also expects that the approval of ETFs will move up to 10% of the circulating bitcoin supply to ETFs. The approval would allow conventional investors to gain exposure to bitcoin directly from their investment portfolios. The only similar product is Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, or GBTC, which currently holds about 3% of the bitcoins in circulation, according to the memo.
“You may not like bitcoin as much as we do, but a dispassionate view of bitcoin as a commodity suggests a reversal of the cycle,” Mr. Chhugani wrote. “A good idea is only good if it comes at the right time – SEC-approved ETFs from the world’s largest asset managers (BlackRock (NYSE:), Fidelity et al), seem imminent.”
The prediction was made in a note where Chhugani initiated coverage of several bitcoin mining companies, saying that bitcoin will “halve” in April 2024 – in which bitcoin rewards will be halved as part of a planned, recurring event embedded in the underlying code of the currency – will force “losing miners” to be “cleared”, paving the way for large gains by the survivors.
Last week, the price of bitcoin hit $35,000, its highest level since May 2022. Investors said they continued to hope for a green light for the ETF by the end of the year, after that the SEC declined to appeal a key court decision in Grayscale’s lawsuit against it.
However, the court’s decision does not guarantee that the SEC will approve a bitcoin ETF. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has long criticized the cryptocurrency industry, calling it “fraudulent and scammers.”
The cryptocurrency industry has faced recent challenges, including the SEC’s prosecution of Binance for securities law violations earlier this year. Last year, cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy and its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, is currently on trial for fraud.