Financial services firm Bernstein raised its year-end price target for the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin ($BTC) to $90,000 from $80,000, citing a confluence of bullish factors.
According to a recent report by analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra. a new Bitcoin bull cycle is underway, fueled by strong inflows into the newly launched spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), aggressive expansion of mining capacity, and record-breaking miner revenue.
The analysts noted that Bitcoin miners remain “compelling buys for equity investors seeking exposure to the crypto cycle,” as CoinDesk reports, and revised their estimates for cryptocurrency mining stocks.
They noted that they foresee a 7% hashrate reduction after Bitcoin’s upcoming halving event, versus a 15% reduction they were previously eyeing. Hashrate refers to the computational power securing the Bitcoin network as miners compete to find new blocks.
The coinbase reward given to miners for each found block is set to drop in half next month, from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC in an event known as the halving. The halving is part of Bitcoin’s monetary supply and occurs every 210,000 blocks, or roughly every four years.
The hashrate typically dips after a halving as some miners become unprofitable over the reward reduction. Bernstein’s revised forecast, however,suggests the halving’s hashrate decline won’t be as dramatic as it has historically been.
As CryptoGlobe reported, over the long-term Bernstein has revealed its anticipating a “monster” cryptocurrency market cycle, forecasting the total market capitalization to skyrocket to $7.5 trillion by 2025, nearly triple its current value of $2.53 trillion. This surge, the report argues, would translate into significant growth for Robinhood’s cryptocurrency revenue, potentially increasing by a factor of nine.
Bernstein’s bullish outlook includes projections for individual cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin’s market cap being expected to reach $3 trillion by 2025, up from its current $1.31 trillion market capitalization, which could mean BTC’s price would double by next year to over $150,000.
Ethereum ($ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was forecasted to hit $1.8 trillion, up from its current level of $422.4 billion, which would see Ethereum’s price top the coveted $10,000 mark to trade around $15,000, up from its current $4,000 level.
The report also projects a combined market cap of $1.4 trillion for other leading blockchain tokens, with analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra writing they believe “the crypto market is experiencing unprecedented levels of institutional adoption.”
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