- Bitcoin has enjoyed an impressive run in 2021 but could rise to $85,000 or higher.
- One key risk to bitcoin hitting $100,000 is if institutions take profits instead of “hodl-ing.”
- Crypto bull and entrepreneur David Gokhshtein names seven altcoins he’s bullish on.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Bitcoin (BTC) is ready for another “monster run” soon if it can clear a key level of resistance, long-time cryptocurrency bull and entrepreneur David Gokhshtein predicts.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has soared 63% year-to-date as the
Federal Reserve
and other central banks steadily increase the global money supply through pandemic-induced emergency policies. Bitcoin, which has a capped supply of 21 million, has gained momentum as the number of dollars in circulation grew 27% from March 2020 to June 2021.
Individual investors, corporations, and governments have increasingly embraced digital assets as crypto prices have steadily risen, forcing traditional financial institutions to “get on board, or be left behind,” in the words of JP Lee, VanEck’s ETF product manager.
Bitcoin entered this year at about $29,000 and quickly traded up to an all-time high of $64,000 in mid-April before revisiting the $29,000 mark in mid-July. It’s since catapulted up to $47,000, and Gokhshtein sees huge upside for bitcoin if it can crack the technically challenging and psychologically important resistance level of $50,000 to $52,000.
David Gokhshtein
“[The] previous breakout past $52,000 for bitcoin occurred with sufficient trading volume, which spiked with a flow of retail and institutional money,” Gokhshtein wrote in a message to Insider. “This allows for investors to look past the mental anchor of $50,000 and set new, higher targets. Volume has been low on previous breakouts, indicating institutional buyers with retail sellers on retracement bringing higher volume.”
David Gokhshtein
If bitcoin can clear $52,000, it should rise to $70,000 to $72,000, Gokhshtein said. From there, he said it may pull back slightly before climbing to the $80,000 to $85,000 range.
David Gokhshtein
“The only thing that I can’t figure out is: ‘Will it hit $100,000 this year or not?'” Gokhshtein said.
Bitcoin could become a prisoner of its own success if it rises so much that institutions sell their positions and book a quick profit to boost their bottom lines, Gokhshtein said. Profit-taking is the opposite of what retail traders in internet forums jokingly call “hodl-ing” — a malapropism of holding.
“I’m not scared or anything, but it’s just that, once it hits $85,000 I just don’t know,” Gokhshtein said. “You think that people will ‘hodl’ and let it keep going.”
If institutions decide to let bitcoin ride, Gokhshtein believes the world’s leading crypto could hit $120,000 or even $150,000. But shooting “to the moon,” as some traders like to say, in a straight line higher is unrealistic and “newbie talk,” Gokhshtein said.
“Pullbacks are healthy,” Gokhshtein said. “We need to pull back. That was our first correction. [At $28,000,] people are, you know, making charts of $10,000, $5,000. … That was necessary in order for us to reach $80,000 to $85,000.”
Gokhshtein is far from alone in his bullish bitcoin conviction. Nick Cawley, a strategist at DailyFX.com, recently told Insider that he expects bitcoin is set new all-time highs soon because cryptos are getting “too big to be ignored any longer.” And notable crypto bull Cathie Wood, the founder, CEO, and CIO of ARK Invest, has a long-term price target of $500,000 for bitcoin.
Altcoins to act on
Gokhshtein also shared seven altcoins he’s bullish on with Insider. While bitcoin is his primary cryptocurrency investment, he’s a crypto evangelist — not just a bitcoin bull.
The largest altcoin, ethereum, is wildly undervalued, according to Gokhshtein, who set a “conservative” $14,000 price target for ether, the cryptocurrency’s native token. Ether currently trades for around $3,150.
“If you look at bitcoin’s 2017 chart and compare it to ethereum and its current run, it’s almost identical,” Gokhshtein said.
Ethereum underwent a major upgrade in early August called EIP-1559, which was designed to make transactions on its blockchain more efficient while cutting the supply of ether in circulation. It led to a 9.6% intraday price spike, and investors haven’t yet sold the positive news, which Gokhshtein said is a reason to be bullish on ethereum going forward.
Below are six other smaller altcoins that Gokhshtein owns and is constructive on as he calls for the crypto
bull market
to continue. Along with each crypto is its ticker and a quote from Gokhshtein about its near-term trajectory.