Anthony Scaramucci, founder of New York-based investment firm SkyBridge Capital, said in a CNBC interview this week that Bitcoin is on track to almost double from current levels despite the 17% decline over the past month.
Scaramucci is known for his long-time bullish outlook on Bitcoin. He believes it is a "store of value asset," in other words, "digital gold," which can reach a market capitalisation of $12 trillion. In the latest interview, the founder highlighted multiple bullish factors ahead for Bitcoin, which could drive its price to $170,000 apiece and over $100,000 by year-end.
Despite bitcoin prices plummeting to $55,854 after reaching record highs this year, the token has bounced back to over $58,712 as of July 10. Scaramucci thinks the selling pressure building up on Bitcoin since the halving event a few months ago will subside. The event reduced the Bitcoin rewards for miners, driving selling pressure among them to maintain profits.
Elsewhere, the bankrupt Japanese crypto exchange Mount Gox, which lost $9 billion worth of bitcoins due to hacking over a decade ago, has already started compensating investors with the recovered tokens. The defunct FTX crypto exchange, which collapsed in 2022, is also mulling compensating its depositors in full, which could mean returning up to $16 billion worth of crypto to investors.
"A lot of that was in bitcoin, it got frozen in the bankruptcy, it got dollarised, unfortunately, at low numbers for bitcoin, but going to go back to those account holders shortly, and we think a lot of that will flow back into the asset," Scaramucci said of FTX customer deposits.
The sudden inflow of bitcoin could surpass demand and trigger a selloff, further putting downward pressure on prices. However, Scaramucci explained that although many Bitcoin investors could be on the receiving end of crypto payments, they are likely to reinvest a considerable portion back into the market. He estimated that between 40% and 50% of crypto payouts received by depositors could be reinvested, citing the loyalty "hardcore" bitcoin investors have.
The German government has also added to selling pressure since last month as they continue to liquidate seized bitcoins from criminal groups worth hundreds of millions via crypto exchanges like Coinbase. Germany seized almost $2.2 billion worth of Bitcoins from a movie piracy site this year, which could mean more selloffs in the future. According to Arkham Intelligence data, the government transferred $155 million in Bitcoin to crypto exchanges and market makers this week.
Scaramucci thinks the selling pressures will fade, which aligns with other industry experts who see bitcoin rebounding from the recent fall. He highlighted a bill recently introduced by lawmakers and passed by the House of Representatives, which states that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission should regulate a "digital asset as a commodity if the blockchain, or digital ledger, on which it runs is decentralised."
"Right there, glaringly in the GOP platform, is the protection of digital assets and the protections specifically of bitcoin," he added. "To me, I think it's an overwhelming conclusion that this will be an acceptable long-term asset class in the United States."
Despite certain exceptions to the SEC regulation for digital assets, which limits yearly sales and restricts unaccredited investor access, Scaramucci sees the bill as a milestone towards Bitcoin's mainstream acceptance. The bill can further reassure the masses about the evolving regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies.
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