Bitcoin Could Hit $ 75,000 This Year To Hit Record: Seba CEO

The price of Bitcoin could almost double to $ 75,000 this year, as more institutional investors begin to embrace the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, according to CEO of Swiss bank Seba.

“We believe the price is going up,” Guido Buehler told CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal at the Crypto Finance conference in St. Moritz, Switzerland on Wednesday.

“Our internal valuation models point to a price currently between $ 50,000 and $ 75,000,” said the boss of the regulated Swiss bank that focuses on cryptocurrencies. “I’m pretty confident we’ll see this level. The question is always timing.”

After hitting an all-time high of $ 69,000 in November, bitcoin has seen its value plummet over the past two months, and its price briefly dropped below $ 40,000 on Monday, meaning it is nearing lows. hollows never seen since September.

When asked if bitcoin would test last year’s record highs, Buehler said he “thinks so,” but stressed that volatility will remain high.

This week’s price drop came as rising Treasury yields – and the prospect of a central bank interest rate hike – continued to push investors to shed risky assets focused on the growth.

Bitcoin fell 6% on Monday to a low of $ 39,771.91, according to Coin Metrics. It was trading at $ 42,921.55 around 5 a.m.ET Wednesday.

Dips in the cryptocurrency market follow a rough week of trading for stocks, especially dynamic stocks. As the 10-year US Treasury yield skyrocketed in early 2022, investors turned to more cyclical and valuable stocks. On Monday, the 10-year climbed to 1.8%, after ending 2021 at 1.5%.

“We have seen bitcoin behave like a risky asset a number of times over the past few months,” said Noelle Acheson, head of market analysis at Genesis.

“When the market gets nervous, bitcoin plummets. We’ve seen various indications that market sentiment is somewhat scared by the 10-year spike – it’s not good for any asset with highly volatile cash flows. to many assets that are tainted by this brush, bitcoin is liquid and can therefore take more selling pressure without a hard blow. “

Buehler said he believes institutional investors will help increase the price of bitcoin in 2022.

“Institutional money will likely drive up the price,” he said. “We operate as a fully regulated bank. We have asset pools looking for the right times to invest.”

But Pascal Gauthier, CEO of the Ledger crypto wallet, told CNBC on Wednesday that there is currently a “retail trend” in bitcoin.

“They trust bitcoin more and more and these are really the people who will drive the price up,” he said.

Before seeking regulatory approval, Buehler said Seba Bank looked at the technology that powers cryptocurrencies and concluded that it will “redefine finance.”

Elsewhere, California venture capitalist Bill Tai told CNBC from Switzerland on Wednesday that there was “yet another swing” in the crypto market.

“I don’t know when it’s going to come back up, but it’s going to come back up,” he said.

He added that cryptocurrencies are at the heart of institutional acceptance.

– Additional reporting by Tanaya Macheel of CNBC.