Bitcoinâs (BTC) 22% decline since its January peak has reignited debate about its role as a hedge against financial uncertainty. While gold has risen to $3,000 an ounce, Bitcoin has been more volatile than tech stocks, falling along with the Nasdaq.
But BitMEX founder and Maelstrom CIO Arthur Hayes seems unimpressed. He sees the current Bitcoin correction as a temporary liquidity crunch and expects a sharp recovery when market conditions change. Hayes predicts that Bitcoin could hit $250,000 by the end of the year.
âWe are experiencing a period of low liquidity fiat money production,â Hayes said in a recent interview with Bitcoin Newsâ David Sencil, suggesting that Trump-affiliated interests may be stoking recession fears in order to pressure the Fed into taking action.
The end result, Hayes said, will be a return to aggressive quantitative easing. âTheyâre going to print more money than anyone has ever printed before and theyâre going to re-inflate it,â he predicted.
Despite the recent volatility, Hayes expects Bitcoin to bottom before stocks, citing historical liquidity cycles. âWe had a big rally from $20,000 to $110,000 and now weâre in a 30% correction. Thatâs pretty normal for a bull market,â he said.
He believes the Fed will eventually step in to stabilize markets and trigger Bitcoinâs next big rally. âWhen thereâs financial distress, they always print money. It doesnât matter what the political leanings are,â he said.
The key metric to watch, Hayes said, is not Bitcoinâs price but the return of liquidity. âWhen the floodgates open, itâs time to act,â he said.
*This is not investment advice.
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