Bitcoin Correction
Bitcoin had a minor pullback, down from just under $45,000 to just above $40,000 but as expected it quickly bounced back. With the batch of ETF approvals now just a few weeks away, I expect any pullback to be quickly bought back simply because everybody knows Bitcoin will gain value once ETFs are available, so any pullback at this present time put Bitcoin into ”bargain territory”.
Blackrock and other leading US investment companies have been in talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission, with many suggesting that these talks are just to finalise the fine details of the running of Bitcoin Spot ETFs.
Bitcoin Year End Price
So my guesstimate for Bitcoin’s price for the close of the year is around $47,000 although I would not at all be surprised to see it smash through $50,000.
Ethereum Spot ETFs?
Ethereum has lagged behind Bitcoin with the prospect of Ethereum Spot ETFs under the radar of most. It is actually possible that some Ethereum Spot ETFs could be approved at the same time as Bitcoin ETFs, although I think they will actually be in the early spring of 2024. I think that after Bitcoin’s ETFs are approved the spotlight will then be focused on Ethereum with ETH’s price surging. which will also push up leading layer 2s such as Polygon. I do though think that the approval of Bitcoin ETFs will push up all crypto currencies!
Ethereum & Polygon Year End Price
For Ethereum, I expect it to edge towards the $2500 range pushing up Polygon back towards $1.00 and beyond. Polygon has its major update early next year plus the upgrade of its token from MATIC to POL which should have a very positive effect on it’s price.
The Graph Year End Price
The Graph is now being utilised by many of the leading decentralised apps (Dapps) as is becoming established as the number one data source for blockchains. The Graph is still very undervalued so there is plenty more upside to come. I expect The Graph to be edging towards 20c at the year end.
1Inch Year End Price
1inch is also gaining more traction as the leading decentralise (DEX) aggregator. In basic terms, users use 1inch to find the cheapest method to buy or swap coins as 1inch searches a massive live database of exchanges supplying its users with the best prices. 1Inch users and daily transactions are increasing at a rapid rate each month so expect much more upside in it’s price over the coming year.
Stacks – Creating Programmable Bitcoin
Things really are hotting up for Stacks! Firstly the Nakamoto Upgrade should be live on a developers testnet before the year end, with it also available on a public testnet early in the new year. Stacks works “hand in hand” with Bitcoin, with all Stacks transactions settled on the Bitcoin blockchain. Stacks main goal is to give Bitcoin real functionality which Bitcoin has lacked since its birth. If Stacks can succeed in giving Bitcoin “usability” this will be one of the biggest breakthroughs the world of crypto has ever seen. At the moment Stacks is handicapped by Bitcoin extremely slow speed as it’s transactions can take from 10 minutes to hours which makes building Dapps for Bitcoin virtually impossible. Stack’s Nakamoto Upgrade will in effect speed up transaction on the Stacks Blockchain from current Bitcoin transaction times to as little as just 5 seconds. There is more to come from Stacks next year with the Nakamoto Upgrade going live, SBTC also going live with hopefully real usable Bitcoin Dapps a reality next summer.
Stacks Dapps
Also of note is that many Dapps are starting to appear on the Stacks Testnet and I’m sure many more will be built and ready to roll when all Stacks Upgrades are implemented, hopefully during the summer of 2024. I’ll tell you now that some of these new Dapps will start with their token’s priced at a few cents, and if they gain traction with users, could become amazing investment, giving amazing returns. For example, look at the price of Alex Lab below, one of the few Dapps which currently runs on Stacks. Early in the year it was priced just over 1c and now is over 30c with much more upside to come. It’s well worth the effort of checking the price progress of Alex Lab as this will give a good indication of the price movement of future Dapps on Stacks. You can check the price here.
I’m keeping and eye on new Dapps appearing on the Stacks Testnet, plus as I’m part of the Stacks Developers / Testers program I actually get to see and test new Dapps before they go live.
Stacks Year End Price
As long as Bitcoin keeps rising so to will Stacks, as Stacks runs alongside Bitcoin. Also of note is that the Nakamoto Upgrade should appear on the Developer’s Testnet before the year end and on a public Tesnet early in the new year. So with Bitcoin’s price increasing, the testnet release of the Nakamoto Upgrade, also a big push in marketing in the far east planned for early 2024, and of course plenty of exposure online, I’m expecting Stacks to close the year end on a high. My guesstimate is $1.30 to $1.50, but would not be surprised to see Stacks edge close to $2.00 if the Nakamoto testnet release gains good publicity.
