Michael Novogratz, a former hedge fund manager and current CEO of Galaxy Digital,

a full-service cryptocurrency merchant bank, has predicted that the bitcoin price will triple within the next 18 months. Novogratz, a graduate from Princeton University, believes that the bitcoin price will return to its previous all-time high of nearly $20,000, which the cryptocurrency reached on December 17th, 2017.

Bitcoin Has "Popped Back Up"

Novogratz, whose comments came during an interview with CNN Business at the SALT Conference, held in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 9th, 2019,

remarked:

Out of the rubble, Bitcoin has popped back up.

According to Novogratz, Bitcoin price will not drop as low as it did in December 2018, when the world’s most dominant cryptocurrency was trading at only around $3,200. However, the former Goldman Sachs investment banker clarified that Bitcoin’s value may plummet if another major cryptoasset exchange is hacked or if more restrictive crypto regulations are introduced.

While speaking at the SALT Conference, Novogratz stated:

It would take something like [a major security breach of a crypto exchange] to shatter [the] newfound [investor] confidence in the [digital asset market].

Despite a recent large-scale security breach that occurred on leading cryptoasset exchange Binance on May 7th, 2019 (resulting in a loss of around 7,000 BTC, valued at over $40 million), the crypto market’s confidence appears to not have been affected. This, as the Bitcoin price has surged past the critical $6,000 mark and the cryptocurrency is now trading at around $6,031 at press time. However, Novogratz thinks that, in general, "for institutions to feel comfortable, you've got to have a lot less of this.” The Galaxy Digital founder also recommended that cryptoasset exchanges implement more robust security for their trading platforms. Notably, Novogratz is not the only prominent crypto industry participant who’s bullish about Bitcoin. Tuur Demeester, the founder and CEO of Adamant Capital, recently said during an interview conducted by Peter McCormack on the WhatBitcoinDid podcast that the Bitcoin price is greatly influenced by psychological factors.

Demeester explained:

If you look at the blockchain and the Bitcoin that is being moved and then compare it to the current price, you will get something that is called the unrealized profit and loss. There is an assumption that when BTC is moved it is sold, and this event is called a value realization event. It is just that the owner had the opportunity to liquidate their Bitcoin and that is why they took it.

“Investor Psychology More Inclined Towards Greed When Bear Market Sets In”

He added that the crypto market has seen “similar patterns during late 2013 and early 2014” when there was an accumulation of substantial “unrealized profits.” Demeester pointed out that the same thing happened during the summer of 2017.

Demeester stated: 

The investor psychology was more inclined towards greed and when the bear market sets in, the positive sentiment obviously decreases. Once it is in the red, retail investors walk away which is what happened in November 2018 when BTC dropped from $6,000 to almost $3,000 [by December 2018].