Billionaire Novogratz
Billionaire and cryptocurrency investor Michael Novogratz has predicted that bitcoin will "resume" its rally once the Federal Reserve stops tightening monetary policy.
Novogratz, who heads Galaxy Digital Holdings, said Jerome Powell's central bank will likely remain "very hawkish for some time" due to high inflation, and will likely raise rates by 50 basis points soon. But when the economy slows and the Federal Reserve pulls back from its tightening, Bitcoin will “fly to the moon,” repeating that famous phrase about cryptocurrencies.
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Novogratz was speaking at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, which kicked off Wednesday with the unveiling of a metal bull statue that commemorates the city's bias towards cryptocurrency and the digital asset industry. The event attracted more than 25,000 participants.
Novogratz also repeated the saying that the price of "Bitcoin" will reach the order of $500,000, and eventually $1 million. The largest cryptocurrency fell about 3.3% to $44,366 at 10:34 AM EST.
“Whenever I went to bed I prayed that the guards of the American economy wouldn't screw this up,” he says, adding that he has Russian friends who have "got bankrupt" recently. “So I really pray that the dollar stays strong and that [Bitcoin] doesn’t go up indefinitely, because if it goes up indefinitely then the rest of the Western world has already collapsed.” "However, [Bitcoin] could hit the target price as the West stabilizes," he adds.
Bitcoin has recently been trading in a tight range, largely unable to break the $48,000 barrier, so far down from the level it started this year. Cryptocurrency proponents are still debating its narratives, including whether or not it is a source of inflation hedge, which is the most popular narrative at the moment, and is likely to remain for a long time.
Novogratz says that while Bitcoin's trajectory is somewhat in line with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, it is likely to be on its way out of the relationship. He believes that the purpose of "Bitcoin" will not be to use it for everyday purchases, such as shoes, but it will be to preserve and store some wealth, adding that the currency has become part of institutional portfolios.