Bitcoin has had an incredible run since the beginning of the year. On January 1, bitcoin surpassed the $1,000 mark for the first time in three years. Fast forward to today, bitcoin is trading at over $5,700 after hitting its latest all-time high of over $6,200.
The recent rally in bitcoin, which saw the price of the digital currency surge by 10 percent in less than a week was somewhat surprising giving the mixed headlines that bitcoin has been receiving in the past couple of weeks.
Several bitcoin skeptics such as JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Hedge Fund manager Ray Dalio have voiced their opinions about the digital currency calling it anything from “not real” to “a bubble”. Nonetheless, the price of bitcoin stayed resilient and actually managed to make substantial gains in the past two weeks as more and more investors are pouring funds into this new digital asset class.
Former Fortress fund manager Michael Novogratz believes that the price of bitcoin could reach $10,000 very soon. The Wall Street heavyweight told CNBC: “It would not surprise me if, in the next six to 10 months, we’re over $10,000.”
Furthermore, Novogratz is putting his money where is mouth is and is launching a $500 million cryptocurrency hedge fund that will invest in bitcoin and other digital currencies. Reportedly, Novogratz will invest $150 million of his own money into his venture, which acts as a testament to the fund manager’s belief in this new asset class. Additional funds will come from “family offices, wealthy individuals, and fellow hedge fund managers,” according to Novogratz.
Novogratz, however, is not the only Wall Street investors who believe in the future of bitcoin. Currently, there is a wave of cryptocurrency hedge funds launching to capitalize on the potential of cryptocurrencies.
According to financial technology analytics firm Autonomous NEXT, there are over 75 digital currency-focused hedge funds in the market today with combined assets under management of $1.5 to $2 billion. Some of these funds, such as the Pantera Bitcoin Fund, invest exclusively in bitcoin, while other funds invest in a range of different digital currencies such as ether, litecoin, and ripple, as well as newly issued ICO tokens.
Steve Nadel, a hedge fund attorney, and partner at Seward & Kissel told Business Insider: “Cryptocurrencies have garnered a fair amount of interest in the investment management space, primarily because of the returns they have recently shown.”
The more institutional investor money flows into digital currencies, the more the market will rally and the most established digital currencies will be the likely recipients of the bulk of these new inflows.
While there will always be skeptics when it comes to bitcoin, the increasing interest by Wall Street in investing in bitcoin and other digital currencies is a sign that a new bitcoin price tag of $10,000 is within reach.
If we move towards a more accurate prediction then Bitcoin will Hit $10,000 by August 15th, 2018 - based on Bitstamp BTC/USD price.
@mankanianshul