Ran Neuner, a former crypto fund manager and one of the popular streamers on YouTube, shared his views on how Bitcoin ETFs and the upcoming halving will affect the market in 2024.
Yesterday's approval of the first Bitcoin spot ETFs by the SEC was a historic moment for the cryptocurrency industry, but it also marked the end of an era for BTC enthusiasts, according to Ran Neuner.
Neuner, who has been operating in the crypto space since 2013, said ETFs will make BTC more accessible and attractive to institutional investors, who will see Bitcoin as a digital version of gold. This, according to Neuner, will change the dynamics of the market and reduce the impact of the four-year cycle caused by the halving of block rewards for miners.
Neuner said the following in his statements on the subject:
“The fun part of Bitcoin is over. Gone are the days when you could earn abnormal returns due to low liquidity and information asymmetry. “We will now see BTC acting more like an institutional asset and following the flow of institutional money.”
Neuner said he expects the next bull run to start this year as some investors are already buying layer-1 protocols like Solana, Avalanche and Polkadot, which offer faster and cheaper transactions than BTC and ETH. He also predicted that demand for an ETH ETF will increase as Ethereum is the backbone of the rapidly growing decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) sectors.
However, Neuner said he is still bullish on bitcoin in the long term as ETFs will create more rarity and push the price higher. He noted that he doesn't have a specific price target, but assuming there is no major market disruption, he would be surprised and disappointed if BTC doesn't reach at least $150,000 by the end of 2024:
“Bitcoin has reached almost $70,000 in 2021, more than three times its previous peak of $20,000 in 2017. “I think it is reasonable to expect it to exceed its 2021 peak by at least 50% in the next cycle.”
Neuner also told investors to be cautious and diversify their portfolios as the crypto market is still volatile and unpredictable.
*This is not investment advice.
