Despite Energy Concerns, Pantera CEO Says Bitcoin Could Double This Year

US-based major crypto investment firm Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead claims that the price of bitcoin (BTC) still might double this year despite the energy concerns.

BTC has been stuck in a trading range for a while now, and Morehead told Bloomberg TV that he thinks it will break out. In their earlier letter to investors, the company had forecasted that BTC would hit 115,000 this August, and “it’s essentially on pace to do that,” said the CEO, “it hit all the monthly milestones up through April.”

“I do think it could double over the next five or six months. And I know that sounds crazy from your normal market standpoint […] but bitcoin has averaged more than tripping every year for ten years,” he added.

Per Morehead, BTC has had “a very consistent” ten-year compound annual growth rate of 233% a year. And while there have been some bubbles and bear markets, “if you zoom out and look at it from any multi-year perspective […] the log growth has been very consistent,” he said, adding that “over the next several months, definitely over the next years, it will resume its trend.”

BTC is still well below its ten-year compound annual growth, so we’re not in a bubble or an over-priced territory, therefore it may be a good chance to buy, he suggested.

The ESG (environmental, social and governance) concerns “have come up more in the past three or four months,” Morehead noted.

Bitcoin now-famously plunged on Thursday after Tesla chief’s Elon Musk’s comments about Bitcoin’s energy use. Musk is “a mercurial person,” changing corporate strategy pretty quickly in this case, but what’s important to note, said Morehead, is that Tesla is staying long, not selling their BTC.

While it’s important to think about the renewability of the resources used to secure the Bitcoin network, it’s one of the many blockchains, and about 40% of the overall market capitalization, argued the CEO, while there are others that currently use no electricity or will switch to proof-of-stake (PoS) and use none. Therefore, the energy consumption discussions surrounding bitcoin shouldn’t influence the industry as a whole. In a separate interview with Bloomberg TV, major crypto exchange Coinbase President and Chief Operating Officer Emilie Choi also noted that the space is increasingly driving sustainable innovation, but added that she “wouldn’t be surprised” if there was something bigger behind Musk’s move.

This week, Reuters reported that Tesla is seeking to enter the multi-billion dollar US renewable credit market, hoping to profit from the Biden administration’s march toward new zero-emission goals.

Meanwhile, on-chain analysis firm Glassnode claims that “HODLing demand from both miners and long term holders as overall spending patterns remain bullish,” but that there are indications that a portion of BTC capital is rotating, mostly into ethereum (ETH).

The rate of miner accumulation is “historically significant,” with the current net position change comparing to only three instances in the last five years. Additionally, the demand by larger buyers exceeds available supply at the over-the-counter desks. Both trends align with the strong growth in institutional interest in the asset as a macro scale investment, the report said.

And while some commenters noted a rise in the number of accumulation addresses as “another leg up in Bitcoin,” LMAX Group, an operator of institutional execution venues for FX and crypto trading, argued that should the price break the USD 47,000 level, it could drop to the USD 34,000 one.

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