According to several observers, 2024 could be a year of significant structuring and evolution for bitcoin. The interest of large institutions, coupled with greater regulation, could well democratize the latter, and increase its value at the same time. But caution remains in order.
A peak of 64,400 dollars in November 2021, a fall to 16,500 dollars in December 2022 then a return above 40,000 dollars in December 2023. For two years, bitcoin gives rise to cold sweats and hopes all people who have decided to invest in the queen of cryptocurrencies. But then, what can we expect from bitcoin in 2024?
Bitcoin remains a volatile asset. But if we look at 2019, it was $4,000. Today, some say that bitcoin is dead, but we still see a certain resilience, explained Pierre-Yves Dittlot, founder of Ledgity, the first crypto heritage platform, MoneyVox last October.
Investment: should you still invest in bitcoin?
With growth of +160% over the year 2023, today is the time for optimism. Because after a period of strong turbulence, the cryptoasset and bitcoin market is becoming structured. In 2023, we realized that the cryptoasset market was like other markets, explains Stphane Van Huffel, wealth management consultant and general director of Netinvestment. Cryptoassets are not a bad thing, but there can be scammers in this environment, as in traditional finance. Is this a reason to reject the entire market altogether? No, Judge Stphane Van Huffel: It’s as if, because there was Bernard Madoff, we should never again invest in the stock market, in stocks or in bonds. You just have to be careful.
It’s as if, because there was Bernard Madoff, we should never invest in the stock market again
The collapse of the Terra cryptocurrency in May 2022, then the bankruptcy in November of the same year of FTX, the 3rd place for cryptocurrency exchanges, indeed weakened the ecosystem but also made it possible to clean up the environment. For the sector, the time for transparency has come, thanks to increasingly regulated legislation. The establishment of the PSAN (device aimed at regulating the market linked to digital currencies, Editor’s note) frames the ecosystem. And in 2024, the European regulation on crypto-asset markets (Markets in Crypto-Assets or MiCA) should strengthen transparency and protect investorswhile harmonizing regulations at European level.
BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan conquering bitcoin?
If transparency and a legal framework are a necessary foundation, this is another phenomenon that could end up democratizing bitcoin in the eyes of the general public: the arrival of several bitcoin ETFs, offered by the largest management companies. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan were already interested, and in recent weeks, BlackRock, Fidelity Investments and Franklin Templeton have shown interest in bitcoin, lists Stphane Van Huffel. It is therefore possible to see a Bitcoin ETF arrive very quickly, as early as January.
In the unconscious of investors, Bitcoin can become a product like any other because it is democratized in the media and could become easily accessible with the implementation of these new products, judges Pierre-Yves Dittlot. If we have much stronger demand, we can have an extremely positive shock on the price of bitcoin. When financial institutions started creating gold ETFs, there was a very strong growth in the price of gold.
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A development capable of convincing those who resist bitcoin? Many financial specialists continue to see cryptoassets as a danger for investors and believe that the enthusiasm around bitcoin is not based on anything tangible. Mickal Hilb, co-founder of the Mon-Placement.fr site, maintains an observer posture regarding this product, but does not deny having an eye on the sector and its developments. If ETFs arrive in Unit of Account (UC) version and we can easily have them in securities accounts, or even if it were to be integrated into a life insurance range, I think we could start offering it to clients. who ask us on the subject.
The true vocation of bitcoin is the storage of value
There remains the question of the value of bitcoin. Today I do not see any use for bitcoin as a currency, and I do not see any creation of wealth, I do not have this understanding, confesses Mickal Hilb. has remained a speculative asset. A vision partly shared by Yves Choueifaty, founding president of the asset management company Tobam, for whom the true vocation of bitcoin is the storage of value. We often compare bitcoin to gold, I prefer to compare it to a Picasso paintingbecause unlike gold, there is only a limited number of bitcoins (21million, Editor’s note)
A final factor could increase the value of bitcoin in 2024. A new halving is in fact planned for April 2024. This periodic event takes place within 4 years in the case of Bitcoin. As the site explains cryptoast.fr, during a halving, the bitcoin reward awarded when mining each block is halved. The main goal of this halving is to keep inflation under control by reducing the amount of bitcoins that are created over time. A phenomenon which can therefore increase the scarcity of bitcoinand therefore influence its price, especially in the event of growing interest from investors.
We are looking at a year 2024 where the price of bitcoin should evolve positively, concludes Stphane Van Huffel. Firstly, we now have real credibility and a form of transparency. Second, major institutional players announce their interest in bitcoin. Third, the scarcity of bitcoin could increase with the halving of 2024. Many specialists therefore say that we can only see this asset increase in value.
Be careful, however, to take precautions. While cryptoassets can be a way to diversify your savings, they remain a product subject to significant volatility. If you want to invest in cryptos, do so gradually, to smooth out the risks associated with high price volatility. Also be sure to diversify your savings by allocating no more than 5 to 10% of your funds to this asset class. And above all, store your cryptos securely on a dedicated wallet. Do not leave them on platforms where they are exposed to the risk of hacks or bankruptcies.
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