The cryptocurrency has rallied by more than 150% since the start of this year

Top cryptocurrency Bitcoin is expected to continue its surge into 2024, and could hit fresh all-time highs of over $100,000 per token, CNBC reported this week, citing industry analysts.

The digital asset has rallied more than 160% this year, trading above $44,200 on Saturday, compared to $16,500 at the start of the year.

“It feels that [2023] was a year to get ready for the bull run that is yet to come. But the sentiment is very hopeful for [2024] and 25,” CEO of Ledger, Pascal Gauthier, was quoted as saying by the news network.

Bitcoin hit a record high of nearly $69,000 in November 2021. However, last year nearly $1.4 trillion was wiped off the crypto market amid bankruptcies in the sector. The crisis was led by the collapse of FTX, the world’s second-largest crypto exchange at the time of its insolvency, with its founder Sam Bankman-Fried now facing over 100 years in prison, after he was found guilty on seven counts of criminal fraud.

To add to the crypto sector’s troubles, last month Binance chief Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to criminal charges and stepped down as the company’s CEO as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the US Department of Justice. The former head of the world’s biggest crypto exchange faces up to ten years in prison for money laundering.

According to CNBC, many industry experts “see the two cases concluding as a line being drawn under issues that have plagued the crypto market.”

Experts also say the next Bitcoin ‘halving’ – a mechanism to limit supply – which takes place every four years and is scheduled for late April 2024, will be another source of price upside.

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“A number of market participants are expecting a bull run some time after the halving, but given the ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) news, we could very well have a run before that leaving most investors on the sidelines. That could cause a massive upward run in the price,” Vijay Ayyar, vice president of international markets at cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX, told CNBC.

Last month, Standard Chartered Bank reiterated its April forecast that Bitcoin would reach $100,000 by the end of 2024, or even earlier.

“We now expect more price upside to materialize before the halving than we previously did, specifically via the earlier-than-expected introduction of US spot ETFs. This suggests a risk that the $100,000 level could be reached before end-2024,” the bank said.

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