Tim Frost, CEO of digital wealth platform Yield App, says that recent price stability in bitcoin combined with a number of positive macro and regulatory signals mean the stage could be set for crypto’s next bull market.
Tim Frost, CEO of digital wealth platform Yield App, says:
“We have been in a bear market, or “crypto winter” for over 18 months now since bitcoin last peaked at over $60,000 in November 2021. There are now, however, signs that we are through the worst of it, if not at the beginning of the next bull market. Certainly, many analysts are looking at charts and calling the beginning of a much brighter period for the market. If we look back at the long crypto winter of December 2017 to July 2020, we can see that by around July 2019, when bitcoin recovered from a low of around $3,000 to close to $12,000, we saw a period of relative stability until the “DeFi summer” of 2020.”
He added:
“We could be looking at that same period of stability around about now. Indeed, bitcoin has remained relatively stable over the past three months ranging between $28,000 and its current level of just below $31,000. If we were to see a few more months of this, this would set the stage for a much more optimistic period in terms of price. And we also have a number of macro signals in this direction. Most countries in the West have got inflation under control, while we have a quantitative easing program being rolled out in China that is likely to prove very positive for all financial assets, including bitcoin. On top of this, while the SEC‘s recent rulings were unfavorable for Binance and Coinbase specifically, they appear to have been positive for the industry.”
According to Frost, “indeed, the certainty provided by these rulings has prompted a spate of applications for bitcoin spot ETFs from the USA’s biggest financial institutions.”
The most recent development in these applications “has, in fact, seen the SEC suggest that BlackRock and others partner with Coinbase to be a surveillance-sharing partner.”
He also mentioned that “while this seems surprising considering the SEC’s recent ruling, it perhaps shows that the regulator is not “out to get crypto”, but is instead earnest in its intentions to regulate the industry effectively.”
He continued:
“In addition, we also have other jurisdictions now clearly defining terms around the industry, including South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand, all of which are moving to ban staking on crypto exchanges in an effort to avoid the commingling of funds that led to the FTX disaster. And then, of course, speaking of the FTX disaster, we are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel there with over $7 billion of customer assets recovered, and a bankruptcy proceeding that, while very expensive, will see some of these assets returned.”
Similarly, Celsius – the $11 billion crypto “bank” that crashed spectacularly this time last year – has also been “given the green light by the SEC to sell its altcoins, which the regulator has now labeled securities – for bitcoin and ether that it can then re-distribute to its creditors, which includes its customers.”
Frost concluded:
“And so, right now, we really are seeing a clearing of the decks in cryptocurrency. Bad actors are being either removed or cleaned up, investors will see their money back, and regulation is creating a landscape that will make it easier for everybody to operate. This, combined with some more stable and promising price signals, means that now may be a very good time to think long term.”