A well-known crypto-optimist has drastically lowered his forecast. He no longer expects bitcoin at $250,000

Tom Lee, head of research at analyst firm Fundstrat Global Advisors, known for his optimistic view of bitcoin, has sharply lowered his expectations for the cryptocurrency. While back in October he insisted that bitcoin would be worth $250,000 by the end of the year, now his forecast is half that.

Lee said in an interview with CNBC that it is "very likely" bitcoin will be worth more than $100,000 by the end of the year. Perhaps, he added, the cryptocurrency will retest its all-time high. At its peak, in early October, bitcoin was above $126,000.

This is the first time Lee has publicly lowered his widely reported $250,000 bitcoin forecast, CCN writes.

Earlier in November, Lee told Bloomberg that he expects the cryptocurrency to recover in the coming months. By the end of January, the value of bitcoin could rise to the $150,000-200,000 range, according to Fundstrat estimates, despite the recent sell-off and multi-billion dollar liquidations in the market.

Lee explained that his more restrained view is due to the crypto market crash on Oct. 10, which triggered a record wave of position liquidations.

"In a way, it shows that the crypto market is a very accurate indicator of risk appetite because there's a lot more leverage there. And it's all been swept away. The last time that happened was in 2022, and it took eight weeks before investors started to come back cautiously again. Ma, I think that's where we are right now - near the bottom," the co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors told CNBC.

Lee previously pointed to the growing demand for gold from stablecoin issuers as a factor that could influence bitcoin's longer-term trajectory. On social network X, he argued that stablecoin issuers have become the largest buyers of gold in the world and "the sole driver of price appreciation" for the precious metal. His post followed Financial Time's news that Tether, the USDT issuer, had become the largest private holder of gold in the world, surpassing several central banks.

Lee clarified that this trend is not bearish for bitcoin, but instead helps shape a "higher future price."

According to CoinMarketCap, bitcoin has fallen more than 20% over the past month. After spending almost a week below $90,000, it finally rose above that level on November 26 and is now trading at $90,970.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor