What does 2024 hold for the cryptocurrency market?

<p>Despite many predictions, Bitcoin failed to break the
$100,000 barrier last year. However, it would be wrong to say that the previous
12 months have been bad for the sector.</p><p>Even with <a href="https://www.forexlive.com/Education/coinbase-stock-is-there-life-after-secs-lawsuit-20230614/" target="_blank" rel="follow">SEC investigations</a> into cryptocurrency
exchanges and a general tightening of regulations, the leading cryptocurrency
grew from $16,000 to $44,000 in 2023.</p><p>Will the rally continue in 2024?</p><p>As in the traditional financial market, we need
fundamental triggers to sustain the uptrend. Fortunately, we have them.</p><p>First, there is <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/only-39-percent-financial-advisers-believe-2024-bitcoin-etf-approved-bitwise" target="_blank" rel="follow">hope that a spot BTC-ETF will be approved</a> on
8-10 January. If it is rejected outright, issuers could sue the SEC, similar to
what Grayscale did.</p><p>Another critical factor for growth could be the
halving of Bitcoin, which will reduce the reward miners get for creating new
blocks on the blockchain.</p><p>In addition to these positive factors, we can also
consider the growth of activity on the blockchain and the rise in stock markets
following the US interest rate cut.</p><p>Analysts predict that <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/BTCUSD/" target="_blank" rel="follow">Bitcoin
price could rise</a> to at least $54,000 in the short term and to
$160,000 after the halving in April 2024.</p><p>What about other cryptocurrencies?</p><p>Bitcoin's growth generally positively impacts the
altcoin market, but there is already a growing interest in the second-largest
cryptocurrency by market capitalization: Ethereum.</p><p>This is not only because of FOMO, as usual, but
because people expect Ethereum to continue leading blockchain technology
innovations in 2024 with its updated roadmap.</p><p>Another reason for Vitalik Buterin's coin to grow
could be that investors are likely to gradually shift their profits from
Bitcoin to Ethereum as the cryptocurrency market recovers.</p><p>But where will the money come from?</p><p>First, if spot ETFs are approved, demand for bitcoins
by the funds that will hold them will increase.</p><p>Second, US households hold just under $18 trillion in
liquid assets, including cash deposits, a massive increase from the 2013 level
of $10 trillion.</p><p>The question is how much of these funds will flow into
the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/crypto-market-outlook-forecast/" target="_blank" rel="follow">digital asset market</a>. It is also possible that
if market sentiment worsens, cryptocurrency will come under pressure.</p><p>In short, the market has plenty of money; we just need
the right triggers.</p><p>What could go wrong?</p><p>The main risk for the industry is not so much the
tightening of regulations, which surprisingly accelerates the integration of
assets into the financial system but manipulations.</p><p>For example, malicious actors could try to delink
stablecoins such as USDC or USDT from the US dollar again, leading to increased
market volatility and possibly a crash.</p><p>The second major threat remains hacker attacks,
company failures, and, of course, the risk of cryptocurrency asset sales by the
US government.</p>

This article was written by FL Contributors at www.forexlive.com.