Bitcoin’s price has been stuck in a tight range between $80,000 and $100,000, and some analysts believe institutional adoption is making it behave differently than in past cycles.
Speaking with TheStreet Roundtable, Jeff LaBerge, Head of Capital Markets at Bitdeer, explained that Bitcoin’s increasing presence in traditional finance has changed how it reacts to market turbulence.
“It used to be that Bitcoin was really hard to buy. It was hard to buy, hard to sell for individuals, anybody other than a Bitcoiner, right? But now it is in people’s portfolios. It’s an ETF,” LaBerge said. “There’s futures, and so it’s much more liquid. And again, it can be used much more like a risk-on, risk-off asset.”
Nelson pointed out that many longtime Bitcoin investors expect it to follow the four-year halving cycle, which historically leads to price stagnation before a surge. However, he noted that Bitcoin’s new investors view it as just another asset in their portfolios, reacting to global economic conditions.
“They see the traditional finance world go south. Bitcoin’s still part of the tradfi world in their head. It’s just a new asset in their portfolio,” Nelson said. “So when everything’s going bad, they look for, where’s my escape valve? It’s gold. They don’t go, ‘My escape valve’s right here sitting in my portfolio in my Bitcoin.’”
LaBerge agreed, noting that while Bitcoin has strong long-term tailwinds, short-term uncertainty in the economy is influencing its price.
“We’ve got to work through some things in the economy right now, and we know Bitcoin’s going to be sensitive to all that,” he said. “Some of these things could lift, and in an instant, we could see a pretty sharp rebound.”
As for Bitcoin’s price outlook, Nelson maintained his belief that it won’t drop below $80,000 and will eventually push past $100,000 — but not before the fall.
“We can speculate all day long here on how Bitcoin prices are going to react,” LaBerge added. “But again, all of the tailwinds behind it are very bullish for the long term.”
