On Thursday (January 23), Thomas Lee, Co-Founder, Managing Partner, and the Head of Research at independent research boutique Fundstrat Global Advisors, while appearing as a guest on CNBC’s post-market show “Fast Money”, predicted that “2020 Should Be Great for Bitcoin” and explained why.

According to data from CryptoCompare, at press time (around 10:20 UTC on January 24), Bitcoin is trading at $8,273:

BTC-USD 24 Hour Chart on 24 Jan 2020.png

This is the first time that Bitcoin has traded below the $8,300 level since January 14, as you can see in the two-week BTC-USD price chart shown below:

BTC-USD 2 Week Chart on 24 Jan 2020.png

Since Bitcoin reached $9,151 at 01:00 (UTC) last Sunday (January 19), the BTC price has been steadily falling, perhaps in anticipation of the “traditional” slowdown in Bitcoin trading around the time of the Chinese New Year (which, this year, starts on 25 January 2020 and ends on 11 February 2021). This expected drop in Bitcoin trading volumes was something that Arthur Hayes, Co-Founder and CEO of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, predicted in a tweet he sent out yesterday:

However, Lee, does not seem concerned about the currently falling prices of Bitcoin and altcoins in the crypto market.

Lee, who was appearing on Fast Money to give his views on the stock, bond, and crypto markets, was asked by the shows’s host, CNBC news anchor Brian Sullivan, if he was still bullish on Bitcoin.

Lee replied:

“Yeah, 2020 should be great for Bitcoin because you got number one the halvening happening — the block reward for miners getting cut in half — that’s a good supply demand change. I think last year the White House killed the Bitcoin rally with their opposition, but with the presidential election cycle underway, it’s not gonna be in the headlines, and that’s bullish for Bitcoin. And then with geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, I think that’s good for crypto… We’re getting a lot more interest in it from our clients.”

It is worth remembering that two weeks ago Lee tweeted about a report he had published on January 9 about the outlook for crypto in 2020. According to this report, there are three positive convergences/catalysts for Bitcoin in 2020:

  • Bitcoin halving/halvening (which is expected to take place around 12 May 2020).
  • Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
  • 2020 U.S. Presidential Election

Lee said at the time that the bottom line is that “financial markets tend to discount 1-3 months, and maybe 6 months (max)” and therefore the “highest probability is halvening not priced in.”