Fundstrat Predicts $150K Bitcoin Price but BTC Drops to 8-Week Low

Speaking to CNBC on Aug. 16, Fundstrat analyst Tom Lee said that if the spot BTC ETF gets approved, the demand for Bitcoin will be greater than the supply.

He added that the firm’s crypto strategists predicted a clearing price of $150,000 to $180,000.

The bold prediction is before the end of next year and only if a spot ETF is approved in the United States, he reiterated.

“If the Spot #Bitcoin ETF gets approved … the clearing price of $BTC is above $150,000.” – Tom Lee @fundstrat pic.twitter.com/ILQZqdjsZA

— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) August 16, 2023

No Six Figures Without ETF

When asked what would happen if the ETF applications are rejected, Lee said the halving will still create demand and price gains, “but it won’t be six figures.”

It should be noted that Tom Lee is an uber-Bitcoin bull who has made bold predictions in the past. In late December 2020, Lee predicted BTC would reach $120,000 the following year.

In August 2021, he said that BTC prices would reach $100,000 by the end of the year. In reality, it peaked at $69,000 in November and declined into a multi-year bear market after that.

In February 2022, the Fundstrat Managing Partner predicted that the Bitcoin price could surge to $200,000. However, by the end of 2022, BTC had slumped to a bear market cycle low of $16,000.

Now just a few hours after he offered a $150,000 BTC price forecast, the asset has slumped to a two-month low.

BTC has fallen 2% on the day to an intraday and two-month low of $28,430 during the Thursday morning Asian trading session.

The move followed the release of the minutes of a Federal Reserve meeting in which it said it did not expect a recession though officials still saw the need for higher rates.

Bitcoin Bears Lurking

Despite the fact that Bitcoin is still trading sideways on longer-term charts, the bearish sentiment is seeping in.

Analysts were saying that BTC looks very weak and a “savage breakdown” could be imminent.

looking like #btc is about to lose this channel we formed over the last 2 weeks, all bounces from the highs have been super shallow with none even reaching any 0.618 fib levels.

btc looking super weak to me with alts looking even worse and i cant help but feel a savage breakdown… pic.twitter.com/WYPwgQGSGU

— Bluntz (@Bluntz_Capital) August 16, 2023

Meanwhile, Willy Woo said it was “crunch time for BTC,” adding:

“Macro headwinds from US dollar strength. Meanwhile there’s increasing demand on futures market (pro traders) and on-chain fundamentals picking up. Either way, up or down, we are now setting up for a strong move. Volatility squeeze incoming.”

The dip is the largest since July 24 but is pretty minor when zooming out to view the multi-month view.