Why Bitcoin Could Hit $100,000 In 2022? Here’s What Investors Should Know

It’s been a rocky start to the year for Bitcoin, but experts still say it will hit $100,000 — and that it’s more a matter of when, not if. Bitcoin’s price surged above $23,000 on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve decided to take a more aggressive plan of action by raising interest rates by 0.75% and an economic report revealed the U.S. GDP fell for two consecutive quarters. The upward price movement suggests that investors were already expecting those two outcomes this week. The largest crypto is up more than 10% in the last 24 hours. “The FOMC decision provided optimism that the end of tightening is in sight and that triggered a nice rally for risky assets that helped elevate cryptos,” says Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at broker Oanda. “A clear greenlight to buy up risky assets won’t happen until we see evidence inflation is coming down.” Moya says Bitcoin is showing some signs of stabilizing lately, but the market may not be out of the danger zone yet. Bitcoin has fallen below $20,000 — a key price point — several times in recent weeks and the “majority of crypto watchers are still awaiting further weakness and possible retest of the June lows,” he says. The latest crypto market crash in June was spurred by momentary de-risking from Wall Street as many investors are feeling pessimistic about the economy amid surging inflation, a shaky stock market, and rising interest rates. The crypto market has increasingly tracked the stock market in recent months, which makes it even more intertwined with global economic factors. In addition to macroeconomic factors, Martin Hiesboeck, head of blockchain and crypto research at Uphold, says investors fear the crypto industry’s long-term viability after several major crypto players halted withdrawals, cut jobs, and tried to stem losses in recent weeks. However, crypto prices are much more vulnerable to factors contributing to the difficult economic situation than the pullback in the crypto ecosystem, he says. “The market remains vulnerable and on edge, not necessarily by threats from more crypto projects going bust but from the difficult economic situation we are facing right now,” Hiesboeck says. “In other words, the price of bitcoin depends more on the supply of gas to Germany as it does in any crypto-related news or metric.” With no end in sight, the war, inflation, and shifting monetary policy in the U.S. will likely continue to drive more volatility in the coming weeks and months, experts say. Bitcoin has only been above $45,000 for a few short stretches over the past six months, and hasn’t been above $50,000 since Dec. 25, 2021. Amid the ups and downs, Bitcoin’s current price is a long way off from the latest all-time high it hit in November, when it went over $68,000. But even with the recent decline in price, Bitcoin is still more than twice as valuable as it was just a couple years ago. For Bitcoin, these kinds of ups and downs are nothing new. One Week Ago (July 24) One Month Ago (July 1) 3 Months Ago (May 2) $22,506.20 $19,608.40 $38,537.65 Despite the volatility and recent slumping price, many experts still say Bitcoin is on its way to passing the $100,000 mark, though with varying opinions on exactly when that will happen. And a recent study by Deutsche Bank found that about a quarter of Bitcoin investors believe Bitcoin prices will be over $110,000 in five years. The volatility is nothing new, and is a big reason experts say new crypto investors should be extremely cautious when allocating part of their portfolio to cryptocurrency. Bitcoin has shown as steady a rise in value over the years as any other cryptocurrency on the market. It’s only reasonable for Bitcoin investors to be curious about how high it can ultimately go. Unfortunately, Bitcoin’s price is extremely difficult to predict and even more susceptible to market factors than more established asset classes. But we decided to ask some experts for their best guesses anyway. Here’s what they said: Bitcoin Price Predictions It was easy to predict a $100,000 Bitcoin price late last year, coming off its latest all-time high in November. With Bitcoin’s big fall since then, the prediction game is even trickier. The most extreme crypto skeptics say Bitcoin will tank to as low as $10,000 in 2022, but a middle ground might be to say the cryptocurrency can still climb to $100,000 like many experts predicted late last year — just on a slower timeline. “The most knowledgeable educators in the space are predicting $100,000 Bitcoin in Q1 2022 or sooner,” Kate Waltman, a New York-based certified public accountant who specializes in crypto, told us back in November 2021. But now, bullish experts are re-evaluating the crypto industry altogether as major corporations like Nike and other big brands are looking at ways to monetize their products in the digital metaverse. The rise of metaverse games, worlds, products, and experiences is increasing the popularity of altcoins, which has changed investors’ sentiments about Bitcoin (known as the original crypto). Many experts are hesitant to predict a number and a date, but rather point to the trend of Bitcoin increasing its value over time. Investors should expect a “pretty sustainable” rise in Bitcoin’s long-term value driven by organic market movement, with the $100,000 threshold in near-sight, predicted Jurrien Timmer, director of global macro at Fidelity Investments, last October. “What I expect from Bitcoin is volatility [in the] short-term and growth [in the] long-term,” says Kiana Danial, founder of Invest Diva and author of “Cryptocurrency Investing For Dummies.” Here are some more predictions we found, ranked from low to high over the next year: Ian Balina Point of View: Bitcoin investor and founder of crypto research and media company Token Metrics Prediction: Bitcoin can go to $100,000-$150,000, but the timeline is unclear Why: Bitcoin is in a bearish sentiment cycle, but the total crypto market and other crypto asset classes are not. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency, but now others have surpassed it in innovation when it comes to what experts call “Web 3” — aka the new internet built on blockchain. The release of new altcoins and hype about the metaverse will continue to drive the demand for crypto, and Bitcoin will therefore bounce back eventually. Matthew Hyland Point of View: Technical analysis and blockchain data analyst Prediction: Bitcoin can reach $100,000 in 2022 Why: The price of Bitcoin in January 2022 is almost equal to its price in January 2021, but there’s a new demand for altcoins. There’s also an ongoing trend of Bitcoin supply leaving major exchanges (presumably to be stored in offline crypto wallets), Hyland said in a tweet. He also recently tweeted that a dip below $40,000 could lead to “free fall” into a Bitcoin bear market. Robert Breedlove Point of View: Founder and CEO of the digital assets marketing and consulting firm Parallax Digital Prediction: $307,000 by October 2021 (now passed), and $12.5 million by 2031 Why: Inflationary pressures after COVID-19 will drive interest in cryptocurrency, pushing the value of Bitcoin up higher than previous projections estimated, Breedlove said in an interview earlier this year. Known as more of a philosopher type among crypto enthusiasts, Breedlove speaks often about the broader social implications of crypto as a form of more transparent, decentralized currency — but his price predictions haven’t exactly been spot-on. Big financial institutions have made their own predictions, as well, with JPMorgan predicting a long-term high of $146,000 and Bloomberg predicting it could hit $400,000 if the currency climbs at rates comparable to the past. Pro Tip Even if Bitcoin breaks $100,000, stay focused building on your overall portfolio including passive index funds, emergency savings, and your retirement account(s).