The first half of 2024 was more than successful for Bitcoin (BTC), whose price reached an all-time high of over $73,500 in mid-March. It is currently trading for an increase of around 115% on an annual basis.
In the following lines, we will discuss some essential factors and upcoming events that could push BTC to a new price high before the end of the year.
The US presidential election
The outcome of the vote (scheduled for November this year) could lead to further volatility for the leading digital asset. The main battle will be between the current president and candidate of the Democratic Party – Joe Biden – and the Republican candidate – Donald Trump.
The latter has recently been presented as the right choice for pro-crypto voters, promising to let the industry thrive. He also pledged to increase US BTC mining efforts and opposed the idea of launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The latest polls show that he currently has the advantage, collecting 42.3% of the total votes. Biden trails behind with an estimated 40.3% support.
It’s worth mentioning that Trump recently survived an assassination attempt during a public speech in Pennsylvania. He was shot by a 20-year-old gunman, but fortunately the bullet only grazed his ear, while the doctors who treated him assured that his life was out of danger. BTC and the entire crypto sector reacted positively to the news of its survival, with the global market capitalization briefly rising above $2.5 trillion.
That said, it will be interesting to see how his possible election as the 47th President of the United States will affect the price of Bitcoin.
Fed actions
The US central bank launched an aggressive anti-inflationary regime after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. In addition to the many casualties, the health disaster resulted in job vacancies, isolation, uncertainty, financial instability and many other setbacks.
To support the crippled economy, the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates, raising the benchmark 11 consecutive times between March 2022 and July 2023. The level currently stands between 5.25% and 5.50%, with many participants in the sector expecting a turnaround in the following months. .
Previously, the Fed was taught to wait until inflation cooled to the healthy 2% zone before lowering interest rates. Earlier this week, Chairman Powell said the bank could pivot sooner than expected:
“The implication of that is that if you wait until inflation gets down to 2%, you’ve probably waited too long because the tightening that you’re doing, or the level of tightness that you have, is still having an effect. That’s probably going to drive the inflation below 2%,” Powell said.
The Fed’s next FOMC meetings are scheduled for July 31 and September 18. Some sources say an interest rate cut is increasingly likely after the second meeting.
Lowering the benchmark will make it cheaper to borrow money, potentially increasing interest in risk assets such as BTC. In turn, the potential flow of fresh capital could trigger a further recovery.
The Halving
Last but not least, we will focus on the Bitcoin halving, which took place in April of this year. The event takes place approximately every four years and halves the daily issuance of the leading digital asset.
Historically, it has been a precursor to a major resurgence for BTC and the entire crypto market. At the time of the halving, the asset was worth about $64,000, which briefly topped $71,000 a month later.
However, some analysts have recently recalled that the price of BTC reached its peak one year (and even more) after the halving in 2012, 2016 and 2020. This means that the asset still has not hit new milestones (assuming it reflects past performance).
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