ETFs
Bit Digital CEO Discusses Biden vs. Trump, ETFs, and Bitcoin Price Outlook By Investing.com
Earlier this week, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw their highest buying activity since early June, when the original cryptocurrency was trading above $73,000.
In an interview with Investing.com, Bit Digital Inc (NASDAQ:) CEO Sam Tabar shared his thoughts on the positive reception to the 10 recently approved Bitcoin spot ETFs. He also discussed the upcoming U.S. elections, Bitcoin price predictions, and more.
ETFs are making progress
The head of sustainability-focused bitcoin mining firm BTBT said he was “generally pleased” that these ETFs have allowed a new subset of individuals and entities to gain exposure to the underlying assets.
“They were among the most successful ETF launches in history and accounted for the majority of new ETF flows in 2024,” Tabar said.
“This shows that there was a huge appetite for exposure to digital assets for entities that were previously restricted for one reason or another.”
The strong capital flows come as Bitcoin has faced significant selling pressure from multiple sources, including refunds related to defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox and the German government transferring hundreds of millions of BTC to exchanges. Some investors may view the drop as a buying opportunity.
BlackRock (NYSE:) IBIT was the top investor to receive inflows, adding $121 million, bringing its total net inflows to more than $18 billion. Fidelity FBTC followed with $91 million in inflows, bringing its total to $9.5 billion. ARK subsidiary ARKB received $43.3 million, bringing its total net inflows to $2.5 billion.
However, Grayscale GBTC saw an outflow of $37.5 million and Bitwise saw an outflow of $4.7 million. In total, total inflows into Bitcoin ETFs now stand at $15.3 billion.
Biden vs Trump
Regarding the Biden vs Trump presidential race and its implications on cryptocurrency regulation, Tabar mentioned that Trump is generally perceived as the pro-crypto candidate, which could be more favorable to the industry.
Tabar highlighted the two candidates’ divergent positions. “I think the general consensus is that Trump is the pro-crypto candidate and that he would ultimately be the most crypto-friendly policymaker,” he explained.
“In politics, it is often difficult to predict what campaign issues will play out if a particular candidate is elected. It is worth noting that crypto was not even discussed in the first debate.”
Tabar also highlighted the contrasting approaches of the current administration and Trump.
“The Biden administration has already proposed a potential tax on bitcoin mining, which could devastate the domestic industry, while Trump has said he wants all future bitcoin to be mined in the United States.”
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has vowed to ease regulations on cryptocurrencies if elected in November and “not stand in the way of innovation.”
Trump has gone from being a skeptic to a cryptocurrency advocate, capitalizing on frustration within the crypto community. The shift appears to be winning him support from the small but vocal cryptocurrency advocates.
However, during a 90-minute debate, neither Biden nor Trump mentioned cryptocurrencies, despite crypto lobbyists’ massive fundraising this election cycle.
Despite the fact that three crypto-backed political action committees (PACs) raised $202.8 million from industry donors and spent $93.6 million to influence the 2024 election, the crypto sector received no attention in the CNN debate.
Interestingly, crypto billionaire Michael Novogratz has joined a coalition of top business leaders in a campaign urging President Joe Biden to reconsider his re-election bid.
Bitcoin Price Prediction
Experts vigorously debate Bitcoin’s long-term prospects, considering three factors: its role as a store of value, a currency, or a technology.
Discussing Bitcoin’s realistic price target by the end of the decade, Tabar explained that he believes “the long-term trend is up. We expect short-term cyclical fluctuations, but we see long-term structural upside given the generational normalization of the asset.”
Interestingly, Tabar expects investors to soon prefer trading digital gold over real gold. “I think Bitcoin will eventually surpass the gold market in value,” he said.
He mentioned that while he wouldn’t be surprised to see Bitcoin hit $1 million, it’s hard to predict the exact timeline and trajectory. To mitigate the risk of volatility, Bit Digital has set up an HPC business that is not correlated to the price of Bitcoin.
“We now have a stable cash-generating business that allows us to benefit from the structural upside of Bitcoin over the long term without waking up in a cold sweat every night when the price of Bitcoin drops to a certain level,” Tabar concluded.