'Bitcoin Winter' Could Last For Years After Price Hits $300,000: BTCC Exchange Founder

Despite predicting that Bitcoin price will rise to $300,000 in the current bull market, Bobby Lee, founder of BTCC exchange, believes that crypto markets could spend years in decline after the market reaches its peak.

What Happened: “Bitcoin bull market cycles come every four years and this is a big one,” said Lee who co-founded UK-based cryptocurrency exchange BTCC in an interview with CNBC earlier today.

According to him, the market-leading cryptocurrency is likely to reach $100,000 this summer and may even reach $300,000 if historical cycles were to repeat.

However, Lee isn’t so optimistic about Bitcoin’s price over a longer time horizon, and went on to state, “It could go down by quite a bit and that’s when the bubble bursts. In the bitcoin crypto industry, we call it ‘bitcoin winter’ and it can last from two to three years.”

Why It Matters: Bitcoin was trading at $57,500 at the time of writing and reached as high as $61,000 earlier this month. Lee’s predictions of a crypto winter involve a 90% drop in value from whatever peak value the coin reaches.

Some analysts have already forecast that the current bull market could be nearing its peak, raising concerns for those investors that hadn’t yet taken any profits.

“The crash will come when we least expect it,” said Ran Neuner, CEO of blockchain investment fund Onchain Capital.

Not all investors share this hypothesis, however, as seen by Dan Held’s most recent predictions for Bitcoin's price.

Held, who is the growth lead at cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, said that he believes the current market cycle is different than previous ones.

“People aren't just in it for a speculative run anymore. People are buying it because they see Bitcoin's value,” he explained, suggesting that the digital asset could even reach $1 million by the end of this cycle.