Bitcoin Could Hit $200K This Year, Says Bitwise CIO: 'There's Too Much Demand And Not Enough Supply'

The chief investment officer (CIO) of Bitwise Asset Management, Matt Hougan, has made a bold prediction, stating that the price of Bitcoin BTC/USD could soar above $200,000 in 2024 due to an overwhelming supply-demand situation.

What Happened: Hougan, in an interview with CNBC, mentioned a “massive supply-demand dynamic” that could drive Bitcoin’s price to unprecedented levels, reported Bitcoin.com on Tuesday. He foresees a significant surge in demand for Bitcoin, particularly because of the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The CIO also noted the growing interest from retail investors, hedge funds, and independent financial advisors. He anticipates a substantial increase in demand once major wirehouses start offering Bitcoin ETFs, potentially driving prices even higher.

Bitwise’s prediction for Bitcoin’s price in 2024 was that it would surpass $80,000. However, considering the current demand for Bitcoin ETFs, Hougan has revised the estimates.

“It could be $100,000. It could be $200,000. It could be higher than that. There's simply this massive supply-demand dynamic going on,” he said.

Hougan emphasized the upcoming reduction in new supply due to the halving event in April.

"Sometimes, investing is complex. Sometimes, it's easy. With bitcoin right now, it's just about supply-demand and there's too much demand and not enough supply,” he noted.

At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin was trading at $66,874.13 according to Benzinga Pro data.

Why It Matters: Bitcoin’s price has been on a steady rise over the past few weeks, reaching a new all-time high market capitalization of $1.33 trillion. This surge has been attributed to various factors, including the influx of funds into spot Bitcoin ETFs, the upcoming halving event, and increasing investor interest in the cryptocurrency.

Tether co-founder also recently predicted that Bitcoin’s price could skyrocket to $300,000 in the near future, citing the “sentiment-driven” nature of Bitcoin’s demand as a key factor in this bullish trend.

Image via Dall-E

Engineered by Benzinga Neuro, Edited by Pooja Rajkumari

The GPT-4-based Benzinga Neuro content generation system exploits the extensive Benzinga Ecosystem, including native data, APIs, and more to create comprehensive and timely stories for you. Learn more.

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs