Wen $170,000 BTC Price? — Expert Says Historic Pre-Halving Breakout Is Underway as Bitcoin Blazes $47k

Bitcoin got off to a rocky start earlier this year — despite the landmark approval of 10 hotly-anticipated spot exchange-traded funds that were supposed to fortify its institutional legitimacy. But things are looking up, with the benchmark cryptocurrency back above the $47,000 mark.

Could Bitcoin possibly surpass the $55,000 level in the coming days?

BTC Tops $47,000

Bitcoin, (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has climbed back above $47K, for the first time since the day after the spot ETFs started trading on U.S. exchanges on Jan. 11. 

BTC initially took a surprising hit after ETF’s debut day. After momentarily nearing $49,000, the crypto nosedived after one of the ETF funds, Grayscale, started selling huge amounts of BTC. But that sell-off looks to have concluded, and the OG crypto is on a roll.

BTC is now changing hands at $47,382.93 at press time, according to CoinGecko data, having jumped 5.9% in the last 24 hours and by over 9.7% in the past week.

Some market watchers suggest the current bullish upswing is the result of the launch of spot ETFs last month. There are indications that investors who dumped BTC at the launch are now looking to reenter the market — a sign of optimism regarding Bitcoin’s potential for continued rally.

Bitcoin’s surge to its highest level since Jan. 11 came in tandem with a historic one for U.S. equities. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 indices reached all-time highs on Feb. 8.

Looking to the immediate future, Michaël van de Poppe, CEO & Founder MN Trading Consultancy, says BTC could hit between $53,000 to $55,000 before April’s block subsidy halving as the strong price action has stemmed fears of a sell-off. 

The halving slashes the reward miners earn for securing the Bitcoin blockchain by 50% — subsequently decreasing the supply of new coins in the open market. Bitcoin has historically skyrocketed after each of the three previous events, and this time, it is already strong ahead of the halving catalyst.

Meanwhile, Skybridge Capital founder and managing partner Anthony Scaramucci predicts that the halving could buoy Bitcoin prices to at least $170,000 in a widely expected parabolic bull run.