Bernstein Doubles Down On $150k Bitcoin Prediction, Says Miners Are A Strong Buy

cryptonews.com:

Bernstein analysts are doubling down on their $150,000 Bitcoin (BTC) price bet after their $70,000 price call last month came true.

In a new market research report, the broker cited the success of U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs that launched in January and predicted that the asset will ‘break out’ after its halving event next month.

Bernstein’s analysis builds on its prior thesis published in November last year, calling for BTC to reach $150,000 by mid-2025. At the time, the analysis centered on Bitcoin’s halving event, its traditional four-year cycle, and how Bitcoin’s price tends to appreciate during bull markets next to its marginal production cost per coin.

Bitcoin ETFs, however, have changed things. Since launch, funds launched by BlackRock, Fidelity, and others have seen net inflows now exceeding $10 billion, absorbing 185,150.3 BTC in total.

For context, the Bitcoin halving will reduce the number of coins produced per day by 450 BTC. This will effectively equal 27,000 BTC worth of buying pressure over the same period – just a fraction of the buying impact created by the ETFs so far.

Bitcoin ETFs registered the largest net inflows ($648 million) since day 1 pic.twitter.com/tgipgk4uzY

— Gayatri (@GayatriPC_) March 6, 2024

That said, the halving is a highly anticipated event for BTC that’s proven highly predictive of past crypto bull markets. Going into the expected rally, Bernstein views Bitcoin mining firms as the best equity-based Bitcoin leverage play.

“With bitcoin climbing new highs of $71K, we expect institutional interest in bitcoin equities to finally tip over, and bitcoin miners to be the largest beneficiaries,” wrote analysts led by Gautam Chhugani.

Noting that the long-term Bitcoin miners trade requires “more patience,”