Bitcoin Crosses $50,000 (And It’s Not Just Because of the ETFs)

This week: Bitcoin crosses $50,000 for the first time since Christmas Eve 2021, Coinbase prepares to update investors with a critical earnings report, and one of the founders of the leading crypto advocacy groups sounds the alarm on regulatory updates in Washington. 

Bitcoin Crosses $50K. Next Stop $112K?

With Bitcoin pumping past $50,000, we rounded up some of the top price calls for 2024 – and added another latecomer into the mix, with CryptoQuant the latest to throw their prediction into the mix at $112,000.

• Bit Mining: $75,000

• CoinShares: $80,000

• Standard Chartered: $100,000

• CryptoQuant: $112,000

• Fundstrat: $125,000

While almost every prediction seems to be a mix of the same bullish factors, (Bitcoin ETFs continuing to boast inflows and Bitcoin onchain activity reaching new heights right as the halving approaches) it’s worth giving some added love to Coinage’s resident predictor. Fundstrat’s Sean Farrell nailed BTC’s price in 2023, and he has a price target of $125,000.

But what say you? Coinage NFT holders can now cast their Bitcoin price prediction for 2024 in our latest vote to win 0.1 ETH (or a Coinage Caucus Pass.)

Fundamentals Improve

Crypto fund stalwart Grayscale published a new report that highlights an underlying improvement in Bitcoin fundamentals. Notably, Bitcoin miners are in an incredibly healthy financial position compared to just a year ago —and fees paid for inscriptions, or NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain, continue to rise.

Despite the fact that Bitcoin mining rewards will be cut in half in April, Grayscale notes that these transaction fees will likely be a strong enough boost to counteract any dips in revenue. “While the reduction in block rewards poses a challenge, the growing roles of ordinal inscriptions and Layer 2 projects within the Bitcoin ecosystem have recently emerged as promising use cases,” Grayscale said. “These innovations may offer a silver lining for miners by potentially both enhancing transaction throughput and increasing transaction fees for the network.”

Jack Dorsey, Bitcoin Bull

Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey was at the Super Bowl in a suite with Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and since there weren’t any crypto ads this year, that’s basically all we got.

As viewers pointed out, his Satoshi shirt is also available on Etsy, though with all due respect, we think you might be able to find better apparel on the Coinage shop.

Coinbase Earnings On Deck

Coinbase is set to report earnings on Thursday and there are two narratives on a collision course. On the one hand, Bitcoin’s price rebounding is likely good for trading activity and the fees Coinbase charges. Plus, Coinbase is also likely to take a huge victory lap on being the overwhelming winner in providing custody to all the Bitcoin ETF issuers. (They basically became the custodian for all of the ETFs that got approved.)

But ironically, since the competition for Bitcoin ETFs was so fierce, they quickly became an even cheaper way for a lot of investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin than actually buying it directly. As Bloomberg’s James Seyffart told us, that’s a win for consumers – but maybe a loss for Coinbase?

We’ll hear how much of that is true when Coinbase posts their earnings after the bell on Thursday.

Crypto’s ‘Existential Threat’

To wrap up our weekly news recap, we highlight the bear and bull case for crypto out of Washington. On the one hand, House Financial Services Ranking Member Maxine Waters said a stablecoin bill could be very close to getting a greenlight. That would be huge. The crypto industry has been seeking rules around stablecoins for years.

In fact, Perianne Boring, the founder and CEO of the Chamber of Digital Commerce joined Coinage on Friday to note how big of a deal that was.

“The large majority of Bitcoin transactions are done through stablecoins,” she said. “[There are] many major institutions and organizations that are very interested in entering the stablecoin ecosystem, but they feel like they do need specific regulation and clarity on stablecoins.”

Given the positive developments, Boring increased her expectations that Congress could approve a framework for stablecoins this year from a 50-50 coin flip to 75%.

That said, other parts of the government are continuing to attack key parts of the industry. Not only is the EIA pressuring Bitcoin miners into a new energy policing regime (that Boring says may not even be constitutional) but Sen. Elizabeth Warren continues to grow her anti-crypto wing as Gensler’s SEC steps up regulatory pressure.

According to Boring, it’s not hyperbole to say that the very survival of crypto in the United States now hangs in the balance.

“We are facing an existential threat today in Washington,” Boring said in a new Coinage interview Friday (watch above.) “It's important that the industry understands that in the Senate, Elizabeth Warren has put forward a bill that would effectively ban this industry in the United States … she's been able to recruit 19 co-sponsors to this bill, so we have 19% of the U.S. Senate today on record wanting to effectively ban cryptocurrencies in the United States.”

Other Headlines

• Solana's Second Phone Crosses 100,000 Presales, Securing $45M for Development (CoinDesk)

• Ethereum Validator Entry Queue Signals Renewed Interest in Staking (CoinDesk)

• SEC Is Taking Cybersecurity Obligations Seriously, Gensler Tells Congress (The Block)

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