The price of bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) has the potential to climb to $35K – the highest level seen since May 2022 – by the end of the second quarter provided its year-to-date trend of higher lows are sustained, predicted Andrew Ilinsky, chief product officer at payments infrastructure platform Mercuryo. That implies an up to 25% upswing from current levels. Ilinsky’s bullish call comes even as the token struggled since April 10 to surpass $30K, as market participants priced in higher interest rates with global inflation still stubbornly high, in addition to improved confidence in traditional banks that’s consequently curbing demand for cryptos. Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) retreated for the third straight day on Friday, hovering around the key technical level of $28K, which marked the summer 2021 low. The top coin managed to reach as high as $31K last week for the first time in 10 months, but for only a brief time, before dropping to $27.88K as of Friday afternoon. The $30K mark is where BTC’s price stood since last June before another crypto swoon took hold and accelerated into an even deeper selloff, underscoring the importance of this zone. “Nonetheless, following last week’s rally, now Bitcoin is generally in a good position,” Ilinsky told Seeking Alpha in an emailed statement. “Besides the fact that regulators largely agree on the decentralized nature of the asset, institutional sentiment surrounding the Premier crypto is high at the moment.” Bear in mind the span of bitcoin’s ( BTC-USD ) weakness has been less than a week. It’s still up 67% since the start of 2023, in a rally stemmed from speculation that the Federal Reserve will soon capitulate, and the recent stresses in the global banking system that sparked investor interest in alternative assets. It's down 31.3% from a year ago, though, amid the fallout from a host of high-profile failures as well as increased regulatory scrutiny. As such, day-to-day and even weekly price action of BTC is highly speculative, and “it's important to recognize that regulatory developments and monetary policy remain key drivers of price fluctuations,” Ilinsky said. As seen in the chart below, BTC was the worst performer in the past month among a handful of asset classes (stock market ( SP500 ), gold ( XAUUSD:CUR ), crude oil ( CL1:COM ), Treasury bonds ( TLT )), but it also fared best — by a mile — YTD. For a contrarian view, Seeking Alpha contributor reckoned bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) is a Strong Sell as increased crypto regulation could stifle the industry’s growth . More on bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) and the Crypto Clampdown Bitcoin Surges 81% YTD: Is The Rally For Real Or Just FOMO? G-7 said to promote tougher crypto rules amid global banking drama SEC warns of ‘significant’ risk of loss for crypto investors Ex-Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon arrested in Montenegro after months in hiding
