Bitcoin, ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies have bounced back after a lackluster start to 2022.
The bitcoin price is now up around 10% since early January with the ethereum price climbing even further—despite dire warnings. However, smaller cryptocurrencies, including Ripple’s XRP, the meme-based dogecoin and its biggest rival shiba inu have suddenly surged, leaving bitcoin and ethereum in the dust.
Now, analysts at crypto research company FSInsight, led by JPMorgan’s former chief equity strategist Tom Lee, have issued a huge 2022 bitcoin and ethereum price prediction—forecasting this year will see another wave of crypto investors.
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“This is much different from in 2018 where tech stocks were still doing well but bitcoin sold off along with the rest of the crypto market cap,” FSInsight’s Sean Farrell, head of digital asset strategy, wrote in a note first reported by Coindesk, adding the predicted rally will come due to the “legacy market capital entering the fold.”
Financial institutions and Wall Street giants have shown a lot of interest in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies of the last year, with some now offering trading services to clients.
Farrell predicts that the bitcoin price could climb as high as $200,000 per bitcoin in the second half of 2022, despite bitcoin’s rough start to the year. Bitcoin crashed around 50% from its all-time highs during the two months to January, falling to around $32,000 per bitcoin.
Farrell also predicted the ethereum price could soar to $12,000 per ether thanks to the growth of decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other Web 3 applications, adding ethereum is undervalued relative to cloud platforms.
Bitcoin, ethereum and most other major cryptocurrencies fell sharply through the final months of last year and into 2022 as investors fretted over looming interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, causing surging stock markets to stall.
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However, Farrell warned that stronger-than-expected action from the Fed could cause crypto and stock markets to move sharply lower in the short-term, with policymakers now eyeing this week’s inflation data, due Thursday.
“All assets can sell off and drop another 50% if the Fed hikes 4% … next month,” he said during a webinar last week. “But right now, as things stand, the upside to both bitcoin and ethereum is much larger than the downside.”
Meanwhile, other bitcoin and crypto market watchers are also feeling upbeat as sentiment turns positive.
“While inflation remains a big consideration for investors, rotating funds back into supposedly risky assets like bitcoin is fast becoming an attractive proposition to many,” Alexander Mamasidikov, co-founder of mobile digital bank MinePlex, said in emailed comments.
“Bitcoin investors are also attempting to decouple from the mainstream stock market, a move that will prevent any serious plunge even as tech stocks continue to take a beating based on the anticipation of a tighter monetary policy from the Feds.”
