When will crypto winter end? Here’s what industry experts say

Crypto winter: Recently, Standard Chartered Bank, one of the biggest banks in the United Kingdom made a bullish prediction on Bitcoin, setting it to $120,000 by 2024. This was followed by different Bitcoin analysts setting new targets for Bitcoin in the coming year with the high hopes for Bitcoin halving affecting its price positively. 

Amid these new targets from analysts, the question that most commonly comes to the mind of retail crypto investors is: when will this crypto winter end? Even though nothing can be said with 100 per cent accuracy, experts have different opinions on the matter. 

While talking to Republic, Rajagopal Menon, VP, WazirX, shared his view on the ongoing crypto winter. Menon said, “It’s difficult to say exactly when the Crypto winter will be over but historically we’ve seen that it’s usually followed by the Bitcoin halving which could be sometime between April and May next year.”

Bitcoin halving is a pre-programmed event that occurs approximately every four years, reducing the rewards for miners by 50 per cent. This process cuts the rate at which new bitcoins are created, limiting the total supply to 21 million. 

However, Dhruvil Shah, SVP of Technology, Liminal Custody Solutions, believes that users should spend more time in the market instead of trying to time the market. Shah said, “I think users should focus on spending time in the market rather than timing the market. The market movement depends on a variety of factors such as inflation, geo-political situation, and other macroeconomic factors surrounding the financial markets.”

Bitcoin ETF approval can trigger next bull run

As it is likely that Bitcoin ETFs will be approved with the biggies of finance like the Black Rocks, and Fidelities aggressively pushing for it. A wall of institutional money is waiting to be deployed in Bitcoin.

“We are also expecting some definite steps towards regulations in the global Crypto ecosystem and implementation of some of the guidelines that have been released by the IMF-FSB Synthesis Paper. This will help improve investor sentiment and set the groundwork for investor security,” Menon added.

On the other hand, Edul Patel CEO, Mudrex, is bullish on the future of Bitcoin in the long term, “At the start of 2023, Bitcoin was trading below the $17,000 mark, but it is now at $28,000 showcasing growth. Although the current short-term uncertainty in the crypto market exists, it may not alter the long-term outlook of investors. As more financial institutions are pushing for Bitcoin financial instruments, this might spark a bull run in the near future.

Shah said, “Historical data shows that users with a 2-3-year horizon always stay profitable in the digital asset market. Any major trigger like Bitcoin ETF approval may spark the next bull run but seasoned investors stay in the market for the long term.

Experts suggest that during this time, investors should focus on researching the market, investment opportunities, access to financial well-being through Crypto, the applicability of virtual digital assets, and other compliance-related developments in the industry.