Bitcoin could rally 40% by the end of the year, according to a top blockchain founder (2024)

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Bob Ras is the cofounder of blockchain firm Sologenic. This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Phil Rosen: What's the impact of the banking crisis and the Fed on the outlook for bitcoin?

Bob Ras: As big banks have been collapsing, it seems clearer by the day that these investors see bitcoin as a hedge because of its decentralized censorship resistance and lack of counterparty risk.

There are growing expectations that the Fed will loosen monetary policy and effectively inject a lot more liquidity into the market to shore up the financial system. And bitcoin is front-running this scenario, pointing to a future that is effectively a return to relatively low rates.

I wouldn't be surprised if $40,000 could be reached by the end of this year.

What's been fueling bitcoin's sharp rally to start 2023 so far?

A big reason why bitcoin has performed so well was that it was just really oversold during the collapse of FTX.

Plus, there's on-chain evidence that more and more people and institutions have been accumulating bitcoin during the lows, which essentially translated into a supply shock.

With so few sellers left, any uptick in demand has an outsize impact on price.

What's a downside risk ahead that could weigh on bitcoin prices?

The biggest risk would be a sharp credit crisis that causes a rapid contraction.

In such a scenario, all assets would have a correlation of one with each other, including bitcoin and even gold. I'm not sure such a scenario would happen, but it's possible and would unleash a tremendous amount of volatility not only for bitcoin but all markets.

Read the full story on bitcoin's upside.

What do you think of Ras's outlook on the world's most popular cryptocurrency? Let me know.

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Curated by Phil Rosen in New York. Feedback or tips? Tweet @philrosenn or email prosen@businessinsider.com

Edited by Max Adams (@maxradams) in New York.