Fundstrat analyst Tom Lee has updated his price forecast for bitcoin to $40,000 by year’s end, thanks in part to a tweet storm by President Donald Trump attacking cryptocurrency.
Donald Trump Attacks Crypto
On Thursday, President Trump published aseries of tweets going after bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and Facebook’s libra. The president’s comments were prompted by this past week’s Congressional hearing over Facebook’s digital currency, which Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said raised “many serious concerns.”
President Trump claimed that bitcoin and crypto-assets are not money, and serve to facilitate “unlawful behavior.”
I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019
The U.S .President also called out Facebook for their attempt at creating a digital currency, suggesting that the social media platform was straying into the regulatory waters reserved for licensed banks.
….Similarly, Facebook Libra’s “virtual currency” will have little standing or dependability. If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations, just like other Banks, both National…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019
He concluded his attack by reminding the world that the U.S .dollar is “by far the most dominant currency anywhere in the World,” in addition to being stronger than ever relative to foreign exchange.
Crypto pundits were quick to jump onboard Trump’s ranting. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, called the attention an indication of cryptocurrency’s growing platform,
Some more thoughts on this. This is the common first reaction of most people when they learn about Bitcoin (yes Bitcoin Bitcoin Bitcoin) and cryptocurrency generally. It means they have begun down the path toward learning more…so it's a good sign.
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) July 12, 2019
Good For Bitcoin’s Price
Fundstrat Global Advisors head of research Tom Lee, who has become a regular analyst for bitcoin’s price, called the event positive for cryptocurrency.
Speaking in an interview with Yahoo Finance, Lee explained the snowball effect taking place,
“On balance, it’s a positive because cryptocurrencies and bitcoin really are in the main stage now — Congress, the Fed, the president weighing in.”
He continued,
“It’s going to force everybody who is not involved — and remember a very small percentage actually cares about crypto and bitcoin — it’s going to force the other 98% of the world to think about what it means.”
In addition, Lee gave his prediction that the growing momentum for cryptocurrency would lead to bitcoin’s price reaching a new high between $20,000 and $40,000 by the end of 2019. He cited a combination of Facebook’s libra and retail investor FOMO as being the primary catalysts for bitcoin’s price increase.
