Can Bitcoin rally to $34,500? – Finder.com report

The panel of analysts at Finder.com predicted at the beginning of the year that Bitcoin will soar 20% to highs around $8,589. At the time, January 1^st 2020, Bitcoin was trading at $7,200.

Barely two weeks since the prediction was made, Bitcoin rallied to highs above $8,900. However, a retracement is currently underway with Bitcoin working hard to sustain the gains above the support at $8,600.

The same panel believes that Bitcoin is likely to double in value by the end of 2020. The average prediction for Bitcoin at year’s end averaged at $14,275. Interestingly, one of the panelists, Dr. John Hawkins at the University of Canberra sees Bitcoin closing the year at levels as low as $2,000. He explains:

“In over a decade, Bitcoin has not made any substantial progress in becoming a payments instrument and may face stronger rivals in 2020, such as Libra, and then central bank cryptocurrencies. Payments systems in central bank currencies are also improving.”

On the other hand, the Managing Director at Digital Capital Management, Ben Ritchie offered the most massive prediction, saying that the largest crypto will trade at $34,500 by December 31, 2020. He based his prediction on growth mostly fueled by geopolitical and economic uncertainty:

Investors will look to some alternative assets to shield from these events, and cryptocurrencies is likely to be a benefactor.” He notes that onboarding infrastructure for cryptocurrency investors, such as custody, insurance, wallets and user experience, continues to improve.

What will the impact of halving on Bitcoin?

One of the most repeated reasons for the bullish predictions was the May 2020 halving that will see mining rewards within the Bitcoin Network reduced to half. Nine out eleven panelists believed halving will see BTC price rally. Besides the reduced supply, increased demand will also contribute to the surge. According to Richard Galvin, the CEO of Digital Capital Management:

“The halvening] creates a focus on Bitcoin’s supply cap — one of, if not the key broad investment thematics. An event that drives focus on a key positive is likely to have a positive impact on price.”

The panel was most bullish on Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tezos. On the other hand, the panel was least bullish on Tron, EOS and Litecoin.