Optimism around Bitcoin was far stronger at the start of the year, but it may not be long before the cryptocurrency regains that same level of hype, according to Galaxy Digital’s head of research, Alex Thorn.
“Attention will come back to Bitcoin, it always does,” Thorn said during an interview with CNBC on Friday, emphasizing that “Bitcoin was the hottest trade of the year at the start of the year” after Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election.
“For everyone worldwide and all sorts of asset classes…That’s just not true for the rest of the year.”
Investor attention has been distracted in other areas
Thorn said investors have turned their attention toward areas like AI, nuclear energy, quantum technology, and gold. “There were a lot of other places to get gains this year that impeded the allocation to Bitcoin,” he said.
“We’re entering a much more mature era, where distribution from old hands to new is incredibly healthy for distributing the ownership of Bitcoin,” Thorn added.
While Thorn remains long-term bullish on Bitcoin (BTC), he reduced Galaxy Digital’s year-end price target to $120,000 from $185,000. A move to $120,000 represents an increase of around 17% from Bitcoin’s current price of $102,080, according to CoinMarketCap.
Many of the sectors Thorn said are pulling investor attention away from Bitcoin, especially gold, are the same ones it’s often compared to.
JPMorgan analysts recently said that the rise in gold volatility during its rally to all-time highs in October makes the precious metal riskier and Bitcoin “more attractive to investors,” based on the Bitcoin-to-gold volatility ratio falling to 1.8, meaning BTC carries 1.8 times the risk of gold.
Quantum computing continues to divide the Bitcoin industry
As for AI, it was reported on Oct. 10 that Bitcoin and Nvidia stock (NVDA) are now moving more in sync than at any point in the past year. That has some market watchers worried about a looming crash similar to the dot-com bubble era in the late 1990s.
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Meanwhile, the ongoing debate over the potential threat of quantum computing to Bitcoin continues to divide experts. Borderless Capital’s Amit Mehra recently said quantum computing remains years away from threatening Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, Charles Edwards, founder of quantitative Bitcoin and digital asset fund Capriole, said the situation is far more urgent and argues that the industry must implement solutions as soon as possible before it is too late.
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