The cryptocurrency market has experienced its longest ever bear market, and there’s no saying whether it’s over or not. There is evidence that points to both sides but nobody knows for sure, and the question of whether we’ve hit bottom or not is the question on everyone’s minds.
However, while investors are wondering if we’ve hit bottom, a team of analysts from Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets is more concerned about when Bitcoin (BTC) will once again reach its all-time high of $20,000.
According to the leading analysts, Bitcoin is hovering around its bottom now (some say we’ve already hit it), and will climb back to its all-time high around March 2021 – over 2 years from now. This may be frustrating to investors who have lost money in the 2017 bear market, but nobody ever said crypto was a get-rich-quick scheme.
What’s Next for Bitcoin (BTC)?
Currently, Bitcoin is trading around $3,900 and is on its way back up to test its most recent previous high of $4,200. While Bitcoin is seemingly on the rise, the bear pressure is still very strong; just when Bitcoin seems to acquire bullish momentum, it gets shut down by the strong bears who hope to scoop up Bitcoin at lower prices.
This has been an ongoing theme throughout Bitcoin’s bear market, but the Canaccord Genuity analysts believe we are in the bottom stages, leading to a slow and steady rise toward the all-time high of $20,000 by March 2021.
The analysts based their prediction off of a repeating 4-year cycle model that includes trends and data from the years 2011-2017.
As reported by MarketWatch, top analysts Michael Graham and Scott Suh of Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets wrote in a research note to their clients:
“Looking ahead, if Bitcoin were to continue following the same trend as in the years 2011-2017, the implication is that bitcoin would be bottoming approximately now and would soon begin climbing back towards its all-time high of ~$20,000, theoretically reaching that level in March 2021.”
What Will Catalyze the Next Bitcoin Bull Run?
Per Graham and Suh’s price analysis on Bitcoin, they recognized a 4-year cyclical pattern in Bitcoin’s price charts that roughly coincides with each Bitcoin halving.
For the uninformed, Bitcoin undergoes a halving every 4 years, in which the block rewards that a miner receives after validating a block are cut in half. The next halving is expected for May 2020, in which the current block reward of 12.5 BTC per block will get cut in half to just 6.25 BTC per block.
Prior Bitcoin halvings have resulted in a substantial rise in the price of Bitcoin, as the supply of new Bitcoin is lowered and demand rises, triggering a new bull market. This has proven true after every Bitcoin halving thus far and is likely to be the case moving forward.
However, the analysts at Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets suggest that this time there are even more factors that will contribute to the next Bitcoin bull run.
As stated by Graham and Suh:
“There are different dynamics at play this time around compared to four years ago, we point to several tangible catalysts that could propel the price of bitcoin in 2019. For one, institutional custody solutions are expected to launch in the first half of 2019, led by Fidelity Digital Assets.”
Therefore, the analysts suggest that the Bitcoin bull run could begin even sooner. However, they stand by their price target of $20,000, to be reached by March 2021.
Do you agree with the Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets analysts price prediction and time frame for Bitcoin? Will Bitcoin’s price go higher sooner than they expect? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
