With Bitcoin on a dramatic price run, 2021 could be an eventful year for the crypto industry.
Bitcoin (BTC) just recently broke through $35,000 as part of a tremendous price rally, in part the result of Bitcoin’s limited supply, according to Diginex CEO Richard Byworth.
“Bitcoin is in the process of starting its post halving bull cycle,” Byworth told Cointelegraph, adding:
“The demand side of this equation has been expedited by enormous bank stimulus and investors seeking safe stores of value against increasing monetary inflation. As a result, a large proportion of financial institutions are now assessing their sizing for Bitcoin positions right now. This is leading to massive exchange withdrawals as these participants move to secure cold storage. We have a supply side crisis in Bitcoin.”
After the COVID-19 pandemic took over headlines in March 2020, the United States government jumped into action, printing mounds of money and releasing various stimulus packages. In the latter half of the year, large mainstream entities began unveiling their Bitcoin purchases, often allocating tens and hundreds of millions to the digital asset.
Bitcoin has largely led the show in terms of crypto-asset price action, although Ether (ETH) and others have recently begun to post significant gains as well. “Altcoins will perform extremely well as retail players who feel they have ‘missed bitcoin’ will attempt to find the ‘next bitcoin’ and next 1000x,” the Diginex CEO said, adding:
“ETH was playing catch up, and is one of the only viable smart contract networks that has already been effectively cleared by the SEC. The likely continued focus on stablecoins post the OCC announcement will likely benefit ETH as many of these are on the Ethereum network.”
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has stepped up its overwatch, filing action against Ripple, calling its XRP asset an unregistered security. Subsequent fears arose in the crypto space, with some wondering if the SEC will go after other assets and projects as well. On a positive note, however, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recently cleared certain stablecoin activities among banks.
What will 2021 hold for Bitcoin and crypto? “As I said, we are at the beginning of the bull cycle, 2021 is going to deliver returns that will likely be shocking for some people,” Byworth said. “Bitcoin will be north of $100k at some point during the year and alts will most likely follow.”
With Byworth at the helm, blockchain-focused outfit Diginex went public in October 2020.
