Bitcoin Could Soar In the Coming Years

In November 2021, Bitcoin looked unstoppable as its price approached $70,000 per coin. Since then, the cryptocurrency has lost nearly 70% of its value and it now trades for about $19,000.

Was this just a big financial experiment gone bust, or should investors continue to look at Bitcoin? This question is necessary Bitcoin look like a possible vehicle for building a diversified investment portfolio?

It’s certainly possible that the king of cryptos has seen its best days, but there’s also plenty to be optimistic about. However, when you consider Bitcoin’s history of sell-offs, this crypto looks quite attractive at current prices.

Bitcoin has a history of crashes and recoveries

If you’ve followed the Bitcoin story for some years, you know that huge drawdowns are a common occurrence. In fact, there have been three crashes in the past decade that are worse than the current one.

The main takeaway is that on all three occasions, Bitcoin recovered from these huge declines.

When you look at the reasons for the previous crashes, the current situation feels rather tame. In 2011, Mt. Gox — a Japanese exchange that was responsible for roughly 70% of all Bitcoin transactions — was hacked. This resulted in the theft of more than 800,000 Bitcoins.

Notwithstanding, Bitcoin not only recovered from this predicament but surged to new highs in the years following.

If Bitcoin can survive an event as detrimental as a 99% crash, im quite optimistic. I have no doubt it can recover from the current bear market and macroeconomic headwinds.

The Next Bitcoin Halving

Perhaps the most important catalyst in the near term is the next halving. This halving is scheduled to take place in the second quarter of 2024.

If you’re brand new to Bitcoin, I’d suggest reading this informative article. This article will give you a foundational understanding of Bitcoin basics.

Halving refers to an event that occurs roughly every four years. Bitcoin’s protocol requires that after every 210,000 blocks are mined, the reward given to miners is cut in half. In the early days, miners were rewarded with 50 bitcoins every time they solved a problem.

Fast forward to today, and miners are receiving 6.25 tokens. In addition,  that number is scheduled to be cut in half in about 18 months. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that if fewer Bitcoins are being rewarded to miners, the value of those coins is likely to rise. It’s simple supply-and-demand logic.

Some Hope

Bitcoin recently has been lumped into a broad basket of risky investments, and as such, the market has hammered it. 

However, investors should also understand that the market is a leading indicator, and it recovers before the broader economic environment.

It’s entirely possible that we could see a resolution in supply chain constraints caused by the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This would ease the rate of inflation. This would likely prompt the Federal Reserve to shift its rate-hiking strategy. Consequently, this could very well be the catalyst growth investors have been waiting for.

Furthermore, considering that Bitcoin has tracked growth stocks almost in lockstep during the past year, the next halving and a potential decline in inflation could send the coin’s price surging.

We can only speculate on the macro environment.  However, we can be certain that the Bitcoin halving will occur sometime in 2024. And if history is any indicator, this is likely to be good news for the price.