BitMEX Founder Arthur Hayes Sees Bitcoin’s Price Slump as Market Cleansing

Experts now suggest that bitcoin may have reached a local bottom and will gradually recover over the coming months.

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes, for one, noted that the leading cryptocurrency might see a surge in value if, as he predicts, liquidity increases in the economy next week due to Janet Yellen’s policies.

Bitcoin May Have Hit a Local Bottom

In his latest blog post, Hayes said bitcoin’s latest slump has “played out” as he anticipated, attributing it to various factors such as the US tax season, uncertainty surrounding the Fed’s actions, the halving “sell the news” event, and a slowdown in the growth of assets under management (AUM) for the spot ETFs in the US. The BitMEX founder sees these “coalesced” events as a necessary cleansing for the market.

He even implied that casual investors, or “tourists,” may opt to stay out of the market for a while, possibly enjoying the sidelines. On the other hand, the exec believes serious investors will continue to hold their positions and even accumulate more of their preferred cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ether, and potentially high-risk altcoins such as Solana, Dogecoin, and others.

Shedding further light on the recent market activity, Hayes said bitcoin hit a local low at around $56,500 earlier this week and he even expects a rally for the asset that could drive its price above $60,000 once again. This has indeed been the case in the past few hours as BTC jumped above $60,000. Following this surge, Hayes anticipates that there could be a period of range-bound price action between $60,000 and $70,000 until August.

“I expect prices to bottom, chop, and begin a slow grind higher.”

Sideways for Now?

Bitcoin surpassed $61,800 on Friday after gaining approximately 5% over the past 24 hours, showing signs of recovery from a midweek decline that pushed its price below $57,000. The recent uptick in price and recovery suggests that bitcoin is attempting to regain its footing after a period of volatility and downward pressure. However, experts believe that the asset would trade sideways.

Pseudonymous crypto analyst Kaleo said that BTC’s sideways movement is typical following a halving event, mirroring patterns seen in previous cycles. Kaelo explained that after the halving, it’s common for bitcoin to undergo a few months of sideways price action as miners now receive essentially half the revenue they did previously.

A similar sentiment was echoed by Jeff Ross, Founder and CEO of Vailshire Capital Management, while addressing the ongoing sentiment of pessimism surrounding bitcoin. Despite the “doom and gloom,” Ross maintained his bullish stance referring to the ongoing market as a “bullcrab.”

The exec also said that predicting the end of the bitcoin bull market may be premature, indicating that the actual one has yet to start. Ross sees the upcoming weeks and months as a prime opportunity to accumulate BTC at lower prices as the cryptocurrency trades sideways.