Bitcoin to break $80,000
INTRODUCTION
The CEO of the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance, forecasts that the price of bitcoin may soon top $80,000 thanks to strong inflows to spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and burgeoning interest from institutional investors.
Binance CEO Richard Teng, who took over the helm of Binance from co-founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao last November after a $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, told audiences in Thailand that he saw bitcoin breaking $80,000 in 2024.
Last week, bitcoin soared to an all-time high of $73,798 before dropping down to around $64,000 on Tuesday afternoon, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin's overall growth has been strong in 2024, growing by 56% on the heels of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving the long-awaited bitcoin ETFs, which give mainstream financial advisors a new opportunity to indirectly experiment with crypto without having to directly buy and custody bitcoin.
Teng, a former financial regulator in the United Arab Emirates, said bitcoin ETFs were “just getting started,” and that he saw bitcoin's "supply reducing and demand continuing to come through.”
"We're looking at a rapidly warming market with bitcoin and other digital assets outperforming the (U.S. dollar) and gold," Teng said previously, thanks to greater institutional inflows stemming from increased regulatory certainty.
CONCLUSION
Teng, however, warned that bitcoin's growth trajectory would not follow a “straight line” but acknowledged that the market volatility would ultimately end in bitcoin making significant gains.
Other companies are also bullish on bitcoin's positive price momentum for the rest of the year, with British multinational bank Standard Chartered increasing its year-end target for bitcoin to a staggering $150,000 this week.