Despite Wright Flight and Flash Crash, Bullish Tom Lee Won’t Bakkt-Down
November 22, 2018 by Paul de Havilland
Fundstrat’s Tom Lee remains bullish on bitcoin, despite the recent plunge in crypto markets. His end-of-year estimate for bitcoin is $15,000 USD, more than three times its current price, per CoinBillboard.
Also read: Bakkt Delays Launch As Crypto Markets Crash to New 2018 Lows
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Perennial Bull Won’t Bakkt-Down
Having recently shifted his year-end goalposts for bitcoin, in the wake of the recent price falls Tom Lee remains confident in his new prediction of $15,000.
With Bakkt putting its bitcoin futures trading platform on ice until early next year, crypto markets saw further negative sentiment over the past few days. Bitcoin had fallen by as much as twenty percent since the mid-November bitcoin cash hash war and the ongoing fallout. Though it has steadied over the past 24 hours.
Tom Lee on Broader Market Weakness
Lee cites broader market weakness across risk-on assets, as large tech stocks struggle and global markets “have seen liquidity dry up”. Despite this, Lee expects to see institutional money entering the space and shoring up prices.
In light of recent SEC settlements with a number of ICOs, Lee is seeing the emergence of regulatory clarity. The SEC has promised plain English guidance on crypto and potential token issuers. This slowly encroaching regulatory acceptance and movement toward legal certainty should see institutional money become more interested in crypto assets.
He told CNBC’s Squawk Box on November 20th that:
“The next wave of adoption is institutional. There is a crossover happening. This is just an awkward transition. Institutional backing will come soon. You will get it partly through infrastructure, like Bakkt, which is launching soon.”
Dr. Wright Implies Responsibility for Some of Bitcoin’s Weakness
nChain CEO Dr. Craig Wright seems intent on asserting his continued relevance in the crypto space–despite support for Bitcoin ABC overwhelming that for Bitcoin SV–implying the intention to use BTC to fund his side in the so-called hash war:
To all BTC miners…
If you switch to mine BCH, we may need to fund this with BTC, if we do, we sell for USD and, well… we think BTC market has no room… it tanks.
Think about it. We will sell A Lot!
Consider that….
And, have a nice day(BTC to 1000 does not phase me) pic.twitter.com/oUScEahtWc
— Dr Craig S Wright (@ProfFaustus) November 14, 2018
Ironically, ally Jimmy Nguyen has railed against the use of rented or artificial short-term hash power in the hash war, accusing the ABC team of the same behavior Wright continues to threaten:
Even if Wright is responsible for some of the bitcoin price weakness and the drop in confidence in the crypto market, Tom Lee takes a longer term, broader, and less tribal view of the ecosystem.
Have your say. Is Tom Lee right to remain so bullish on bitcoin?
Images via Pixabay
