1
Bitcoin is back on a bull run, analysts are upgrading their BTC price targets, and the halving event is only several weeks away. What's next for the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency? Kostenlose Bilder mit KI/flickr

KEY POINTS

  • Bitcoin Foundation chair Brock Pierce sees Bitcoin prices hitting new all-time highs before the halving
  • He also sees it "very realistic" for Bitcoin to break $100,000 sometime this year if the recent price patterns repeat
  • Bitcoin has been trying to integrate Ethereum features, suggesting the blockchain may no longer be needed, Pierce noted

Bitcoin has bounced back following a dive last week that put the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization in a place where it was stuck for some time before it hit $73,000 earlier this month. Amid the upcoming halving event, a blockchain pioneer, Bitcoiner and impact investor talked about the event's effect on Bitcoin prices and shared his own prediction of how the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency will fare this year.

What is the Bitcoin halving event?

The crypto community has been anticipating the Bitcoin halving event, which takes place every four years. Price watchers are expected to keenly monitor prices as the halving will cut Bitcoin miners' rewards by 50%, slowing the pace at which new coins are created, which then lowers the availability of coins in circulation. Weeks before halving, some are selling, others are holding. But, what should BTC holders be doing ahead of the halving?

Price patterns and an old-age adage

For Brock Pierce, American entrepreneur and chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, the lead-up to the halving event will see BTC owners holding, especially after Bitcoin hit an all-time high then took a dip, "which was expected."

"The question is whether the dip will stop at 72, 73, 74, 75, or 76. It took a dip, stabilized, and is now making another run. We might be looking at all-time highs once again," he told International Business Times exclusively. The halving is expected in April, and while waiting for the event, Pierce mentioned a timeless adage in trading: "buy on the rumor, sell on the news." He sees Bitcoin possibly achieving new highs "before the halving."

What to expect of the halving

Pierce, a Tether and Block.one co-founder, noted that new crypto watchers should know "all Bitcoin miners' revenues drop by 50% immediately, in a moment, in an instant." A culling of the Bitcoin mining herd will then take place wherein "weak miners go out of business while the strong survive." Those who survive the slaughter will recoup some of their halving losses.

What to expect after the halving

If the abovementioned price patterns repeat, Bitcoiners should expect another slump before BTC picks up pace once more. Entering the summer season, "we're probably looking at all-time highs extending into the fall and winter," he projected. "I think it's very realistic that Bitcoin will break $100K this year," Pierce predicted.

He isn't the only one who thinks so. British cross-border bank Standard Chartered even scrapped its earlier $100,000 BTC target and hiked its projection to $150,000 by the end of 2024, citing "sharper-than-expected price gains year-to-date."

Moving forward and challenging Ethereum?

Bitcoin has been adapting to the changes in the crypto community, for instance scalability, smart contracting, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and layer-2 solutions. It is currently attempting to integrate all features offered by Ethereum, a decentralized blockchain capitalizing on smart contract functionality. This is "essentially saying that we may not need Ethereum anymore," he said.

With Bitcoin bulls like Michael Saylor and El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, plus many other entrepreneurs who strongly believe the cryptocurrency will one day stand at par with or even exceed gold, BTC is on a roll.

"Bitcoin is asserting its dominance not just as the king of stored value, the king of digital gold, but as the king of cryptocurrency," Pierce noted.

Read more