The New York Times called it “The runaway success story of the year“. Bernstein Research thinks it’s the “faster horse”. Larry Lepard believes it’s going to US$10 million. If you only buy one cryptocurrency this year, then make it Bitcoin.

Or Ethereum. Or both. And maybe diversify your risk-asset portfolio a little bit elsewhere into altcoins or actual, tangible, more sensible things such as gold, lithium, property or Pokémon cards. Definitely not financial advice. But the point stands – Bitcoin’s the steadiest ship in a volatile sea of highly speculative vessels.

And there’s been no shortage of bullish voices speaking up about Bitcoin and crypto just lately. As BTC attempts to consolidate above US$30k and bust through further resistance, the louder the bulls snort.

Here, we take a look at some of the most prominent analysts and influencers eyeing the crypto market turnaround and potential for continuation.

 

‘Like hating on a faster horse’: Bernstein Research

Let’s start with Wall Street investment and brokerage firm Bernstein Investment Research, which has called Bitcoin the “faster horse” compared with gold, according to a new CNBC report.

However, the firm’s analysts are cited as caveating: “Despite Bitcoin being the best-performing asset this year (up approximately 71% year-to-date), there is limited belief that this is structurally a new Bitcoin cycle, and that Bitcoin will see fresh allocations.”

But, while the firm believes Bitcoin is attracting less interest compared with gold right now, it also implies that investors passing it by could be missing out.

“Even this year, since the banking crisis fears have escalated, Bitcoin rallied approximately 71% year-to-date versus gold rallying approximately 10% year-to-date,” noted Berstein’s analysts.

“In our view, liking gold, but not liking Bitcoin is like hating on a faster horse.”

Another to recently compare Bitcoin with the likes of Phar Lap and Black Caviar etc was VanEck CEO Jan van Eck, who thinks both gold and BTC are at the start of an early bull cycle.

 

Larry Lepard joins US$10m BTC prediction club

Austrian/American fund manager Lawrence “Larry” Lepard, the founder of Boston-based Equity Management Associates, is a known Bitcoin bull.

And in an interview this week with markets-commentary website Kitco, Lepard has upped the ante on some of his previous positive statements regarding the OG crypto, fortelling the US dollar’s demise within 10 years and a flood of fresh capital towards gold, property and Bitcoin.

“I think the intelligent people in the world, and ultimately most people, get the joke and realise that fiat currency is losing value consistently, and as that trend grows people will go to Bitcoin,” said Lepard.

“They’ll go to Bitcoin. They’ll go to gold. They’ll go to property. Nobody’s going to be stupid enough to buy bonds from a set of governments that have proven they can’t manage the currency correctly.”

The fundie noted that the digital asset’s finite supply of 21 million gives it an advantage of gold.

“There’s seven-plus billion people on the planet and there are 21 million of these coins. It’s a very sound form of money,” he added.

“As more and more people come to [realize they] should save in this form of money, the price is going to go much higher in my opinion. I think we’ll hit $100,000. Then I think we’ll hit $1 million, and I think we’ll ultimately hit $10 million a coin. I’m sure my grandkids will be shocked at people who own one coin. I mean being a whole coiner will be a big deal.”

Lepard joins the likes of fellow US hedge fund manager Jesse Myers and British cryptographer Adam Back in making US$10 million predictions for Bitcoin.

 

Bank of America thinks rally can sustain

Bitcoin has so far this year made an 80% surge, busting up impressively in the first quarter and in April. And the Bank of America is one large US institution that’s predicting the rally will continue.

Per a Bloomberg report, some US$368 million worth of Bitcoin was sent to personal wallets in the week through April 4, which represents this year’s second-largest net Bitcoin outflow from crypto exchanges. This is based on data compiled by the Bank of America Corp’s strategists Alkesh Shah and Andrew Moss.

“Investors transfer tokens from exchange wallets to their personal wallets when they intend to hold them (or HODL), indicating a potential decrease in sell pressure,” wrote the banking strategists in a note.

The implication is that the sell pressure on Bitcoin is decreasing, and that a rally, or at least consolidation could continue for the leading crypto asset.

 

‘An escape route’: Robert F. Kennedy Jr

US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. thinks Bitcoin and other cryptos can help the public escape a financial system he refers to as “a bubble”.

In a lengthy tweet, Kennedy Jr, an environmental lawyer, has accused the Biden Administration of launching “hostile broadsides” against cryptocurrencies.

“Between 2008-22, the Fed partnered with a handful of big banks to print $10 trillion – ten centuries of wealth in 15 years – a bonanza for the banksters,” wrote Kennedy Jr, adding:

“Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin give the public an escape route from the splatter zone when this bubble invariably bursts. So the White House is colluding with the banksters to keep us all trapped in the bubble of profiteering and control.”

Kennedy Jr also recently said that America’s plans to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) would “grease the slippery slope to financial slavery and political tyranny”.

 

‘We’re through’ the bear market: Anthony Scaramucci

Anthony Scaramucci – founder of SkyBridge Capital and former Trump administration White House official – believes “we’re through” the crypto bear market.

“Bitcoin’s up around 70% on the year, and I don’t think it’s time to take chips off the table,” said the fund manager in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance.

“If anything, I think this is the beginning of a new era for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and we’ll remain patient, and we’ll remain disciplined through the approach that we have had for the last 20 years, which is to make a macro bet: sit patiently and take the heat from the pundits and the critics.”

Like Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood, Scaramucci also believes the leading crypto could reach a price of US$1 million per coin by 2030.

 

Around the blocks

Annnd, just for good measure, here are a few (very) recent, bullish crypto Twittering posts to add to the mix…

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