Fred Thiel, CEO of Marathon Digital, emphasized in a recent episode of The Pomp Podcast that the upcoming halving positions the Bitcoin price for a higher appreciation rate. This is compared to gold. It can also be expected to provide greater stability during market downturns.
The expansion in Bitcoin’s supply will be slower than the growth in the supply of gold in the gold market. It’s possible that this could have larger impacts on its price.
Why is the Bitcoin Halving in 2024 Different from Others?
Bitcoin halvings generally tend to lead to an increase in the BTC price, compensating miners for their lost revenue. However, Thiel stated that the launch of BTC ETFs is important.
According to the CEO, these financial instruments will likely lead to greater liquidity and lower volatility. This will make the cryptocurrency more attractive to institutional investors. This shift will be further fueled by trading activity around ETFs, such as the shift from Grayscale to lower-fee options.
Finally, Thiel highlighted the increasing integration of various investment options, including Bitcoin direct investments, Futures markets and diversified ETF baskets, with mainstream financial systems.
What Will Miners’ New Strategies Be Like?
Thiel also discussed the structure for Bitcoin miners that goes beyond traditional utility-scale mining. Miners are now increasingly focusing on “energy harvesting”. The vision going forward is for BTC mining to be similar to microgrids. Miners will focus on more sustainable and zero-cost operation by tapping into widely dispersed, stranded energy resources.
Thiel believes that BTC price and global hash rate are very important factors in the Bitcoin mining industry. These factors affect miners’ ability to acquire capital and the price of mining equipment. But despite these challenges, BTC has managed to prove to be a strong investment over the last decade.
Thiel also shared a cautious but insightful price prediction for Bitcoin during the Pomp podcast. Thielf expects BTC price to reach an ATH by the end of Q3 or early Q4 before experiencing a sell-off that could drop it to the mid-40,000s or low-50,000s. According to Thiel, this trend will stabilize in early 2025 and then begin a gradual rise. In doing so, it will touch a new ATH in the $120,000 range by the end of 2025.