Jesse Powell, co-founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has predicted that the upcoming Bitcoin halving can trigger the start of the next bull market.
Powell, who appeared in an episode of the Bankless podcast, talked about the overall state of the crypto industry following the unprecedented collapse of FTX and speculated what could propel the space out of the ongoing bear market.
“It’s just a massive hit to lose $10 billion in capital from this industry. To have that just stolen away, that could’ve gone to great stuff and moved this industry forward. So that’s going to take some time to recover from,” he said.
Powell added that the fallout of FTX delivered billions in losses to many retail users as well as institutions, leaving the crypto industry with a reputation to repair, which will ultimately take some time. However, he said the next Bitcoin halving, which is expected to take place in the first half of 2024, could be the next bullish catalyst for the market.
“Obviously, prices are depressed as a result of all this as well, so I think we’re going into an even deeper bear market winter. It might be protracted, we don’t have another Bitcoin halving until March 2024. It’s going to be some time, and I think that’s sort of the next kind of big event that might cause us to bounce out of a bear market.”
Bitcoin halving is when the rate of new Bitcoin entering circulation is cut in half, which occurs approximately every four years. Halvings also cut the reward for mining Bitcoin transactions in half and thus lower the available amount of new supply, even as demand increases.
Historically, Bitcoin halvings have led to the start of a bull market because of typical supply and demand mechanisms. And since the broader crypto market and altcoins simply follow Bitcoin, the entire crypto market rallies when Bitcoin surges higher.
The last halving took place in May 2020, and in 2021, Bitcoin topped an all-time high above $68,000. A similar occurrence happened when halving took place in 2016. The following year, Bitcoin hit what was, at the time a record high.
Powell claimed that the collapse of FTX would not be the last bad thing to happen to the crypto space but that he remains bullish on the long-term prospects of the industry. He added,
“I think there will continue to be bad actors that come in that we have to get out. There’s going to continue to be blows against the industry, and misleading information out there. Ultimately I think we got to remember why crypto is here in the first place, and that’s to deliver Bitcoin and financial freedom basically to the whole world,”
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