Galaxy Digital CEO ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if Bitcoin hit $30K this quarter

Galaxy Digital Holdings CEO Mike Novogratz believes there’s a chance Bitcoin (BTC) could return to $30,000 or above before the end of March.

According to a Feb. 15 Bloomberg report, Novogratz spoke at a Bank of America conference the same day and said he would’ve been the “happiest guy” if 2022 ended with BTC at $30,000, but added:

“When I look at the price action, when I look at the excitement of the customers calling, the FOMO building up, it wouldn’t surprise me if we were at $30,000 by the end of the quarter.”

The prediction is much lower than others Novogratz has made in the past. The Galaxy CEO once believed that Bitcoin could reach $500,000 by the end of 2027 if the United States Federal Reserve kept hiking interest rates.

Announcing #48 of Cointelegraph’s Top 100 influencers in Crypto and Blockchain@novogratz

Former Goldman Sachs partner turned crypto mogul and founder of @galaxyhq, a big investor who acquired @ArgoBlockchain’s mining facility, and recently won an auction to buy @GK8_Security. pic.twitter.com/ejpcFzOsYQ

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) February 15, 2023

During Wednesday’s conference, Novogratz again made mention of the rate hikes by Fed chair Jerome Powell, who most recently announced an interest rate hike of 25 basis points on Feb. 1. Novogratz said he didn’t expect the Fed to change its tune anytime soon:

“What makes me skeptical that we can have the explosive, back-to-the-old highs this year is Chairman Powell. He’s really doing what he says he’s going to do, and I don’t see the Fed pivoting and cutting anytime soon.”

Alongside the Fed’s February rate hike, Powell indicated inflation in the U.S. had begun to slow, which saw Bitcoin shortly spike above $24,000 before declining below $22,000.

Related: US lawmakers reintroduce bill to remove roadblocks for crypto investments in retirement accounts

Following the U.S. Consumer Price Index readout for January coming in roughly as expected on Feb. 14, Bitcoin gained nearly 12% in 24 hours and hit over $24,700 — its highest level since mid-August, according to Cointelegraph data.

Sentiment toward crypto also appears healthy, with the Crypto Fear and Greed index climbing nine points to 62 out of 100 and moving the scale from “neutral” into “greed” territory.

Bitcoin would still need to gain roughly another 22% by March 31 to reach Novogratz’s predicted price.