Reportedly, analysts at the Wall Street brokerage firm Bernstein anticipate that Bitcoin (BTC) will climb to the $70,000 range by year’s end. As per a fresh report from StreetInsider, analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra indicate in a recent research note that the approval of spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will likely fuel the price surge of the leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
“In a commodity with a known finite supply curve, any incremental buying demand at this scale will become material to price. ETFs are still 3.5% of total supply, and more than 12% of Bitcoin still sits on exchanges, but it is the net incremental demand that counts given the sell pressure is easier to model.”
The Bernstein analysts also believe US Bitcoin mining firms could grow their operations this year despite the crypto king’s upcoming halving event, which is slated for April and will see mining rewards for BTC cut in half.
“We expect 15% of high-cost miners to cut production in the coming halving, but we expect the low-cost and competitive miners to gain relative share (RIOT and CLSK are our preferred picks).”
Chhugani and Sapra also predict the development of Bitcoin layer-2 protocols will increase the network’s overall efficiency.
“We also expect layer-2s to continue to drive transaction revenues for the miners and economic activity from token mints and NFT (non-fungible token) ordinals to sustain, as the Bitcoin developer ecosystem grows.”
Furthermore, they say that the macroeconomic landscape could be favorable for the flagship digital asset this year.
“If the early election trends suggest a change of regime post elections and with potential changes in the current (crypto unfavorable) leadership at SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), Bitcoin and broader crypto market could rally off those cues, and the rates could add further fuel to the rally.”
Bitcoin is trading at $44,139 at time of writing.
