Erik Voorhees forecasts BTC to reach USD 40,000 in June

ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees expects bitcoin to reach USD 40,000 in the summer, while Tim Draper has maintained his USD 250,000 prediction for the second year in a row.

Erik Voorhees: BTC will reach USD 40,000 in June

Erik Voorhees, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift, was optimistic about a possible bitcoin price recovery during an interview with Bankless on January 2, stating that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if bitcoin reached “like USD 40,000” by “summer.”

Voorhees noted that if his prediction came true that would be “2.5X” from its current price of USD16,666, which he said is a “great return.”

The crypto-executive could not pinpoint the timing of the next bull run; he said only that it would come sometime within the next “six months to three years.”

However, he dismissed the idea that it could take as long as “10 years,” arguing that if that were to happen it would mean the whole “thing […] probably failed.”

Looking ahead, Voorhees said that the macroeconomic environment, interest rates and tightening monetary conditions are important factors in the evolution of the cryptocurrency market this year.

He also acknowledged that the reputation of cryptocurrencies by outsiders is “just garbage,” but those commentators will also be the ones who will be “blindsided” when the next rally occurs.

Views of many investors, executives and analysts

In recent weeks there has been little agreement among commentators on bitcoin; cryptocurrency executives, research analysts and billionaire investors offer vastly different opinions on what lies ahead for bitcoin in the coming year.

On the other hand, billionaire bitcoin investor Tim Draper has followed through with his USD 250,000 prediction for bitcoin via his latest Twitter post on January 1, showing that he even has it printed on a T-shirt.

See t-shirt. $250k by 2022. My prediction was off by a bit. Hasn’t made it there…yet. Certainly before the halvening. #truebelievers #bitcoin #worldoftrust #freedom #hodl pic.twitter.com/jMLi8rraj8
— Tim Draper (@TimDraper) December 31, 2022

Draper first made the bold USD 250,000 price prediction for bitcoin during a speech at his own Draper University in San Mateo in April 2018.

At the time, he said he was looking into what he described as a “crystal ball,” saying he was “thinking” USD 250,000 for a bitcoin by 2022.

His bullish prediction was met with mixed comments on Twitter; one user tweeted that he lost interest in bitcoin’s price since Celsius stole the “only bitcoin” they had, another tweeted “you have high hopes,” while another predicted it is “unlikely” to even go “above USD 30,000 in 2023.”

In September, Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodities strategist Mike McGlone – who has been bullish on Bitcoin’s future in the past – said the cryptocurrency would only reach USD 100,000 by 2025.

He has made that prediction before, during an interview in October 2020, where he said bitcoin is “on track” to reach “USD 100,000 by 2025.” A year later, he stood by that prediction in an interview with Kitco News: he said it is only a “matter of time” to reach “USD 100,000.”

He said this is because supply continues to “go down,” while adoption and demand “continue to increase.”

In December, UK-based banking firm Standard Chartered predicted that bitcoin could fall to USD 5,000 by 2023 as one of the year’s potential “financial market surprises.”

Best-selling Rich Dad, Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki has also not made any price predictions in recent months, despite frequently posting about bitcoin on his Twitter page.

Q: Are you investing in Bitcoin?
A: Yes I am. I am very excited about Bitcoin. Why? Because Bitcoin is classified as a commodity much like gold, silver, and oil. Most crypto tokens are classifed as a security and SEC regulations will crush most of them. I am buying more BC
— Robert Kiyosaki (@theRealKiyosaki) December 31, 2022

In December, Kiyosaki said he was investing in bitcoin and was “very excited” because it is classified as a commodity like gold, silver and oil, unlike other cryptocurrencies that he said have been classified as securities.