As noted earlier, the growth of the first cryptocurrency continues against the background of investor optimism about the recovery of the US economy and the expectation of approval of the bitcoin ETF. According to Roman Nekrasov, co-founder of the ENCRY Foundation, January 2024 may be the intersection point of the current growth of the digital currency.

There is potential for a pullback, both in the absence of SEC approval of the bitcoin ETF and after its launch, as this may put additional pressure on the market, similar to how a correction occurred after the introduction of bitcoin futures trading at the end of 2017. Nekrasov also notes the importance of considering the dynamics of the exchange rate from the point of view of the theory of cyclicity and the expected halving, arguing that the previous three reductions in miner rewards led to new historical highs for bitcoin.

He also emphasizes that digital assets continue to successfully adapt and attract the attention of institutional investors.

Nekrasov believes that the current period, marked by seven consecutive weekly increases, may be a harbinger of an early correction, but the possibility of launching a bitcoin ETF may mitigate this process. He suggests that the next target for bitcoin may be the $48,000 mark, and by the end of the year there may be sales that slow down the rate of growth.

Anton Toroptsev, CommEX Regional director for Russia and the CIS, believes that current investors are actively defending their positions in bitcoin due to concerns about a possible recession in the US economy. In his opinion, bitcoin can test the $45,000 mark by the end of 2023.

The founder and CEO of BitOK, Dmitry Machikhin, sees the current state of the market as a new phase of a powerful uptrend. He argues that the bitcoin rally may exceed the expectations of most market participants both in terms of price performance and duration. Machikhin suggests that bitcoin could reach a price peak in the range of $48,000 to $52,000 over the next 4-10 weeks.

Trader Vladimir Cohen remains skeptical and believes that bitcoin will not be able to stay above $50,000 until the end of the year without a real inflow of liquidity. He expects a correction in the range of $30,000 to $36,000.

While investors are actively watching bitcoin, alternative cryptocurrencies are likely to show moderate growth, according to Roman Nekrasov. Ethereum is already showing such dynamics, having consolidated above the $2,000 mark and, according to Anton Toroptsev, has the potential to reach the $2,250 level by the end of December.

Dmitry Machikhin emphasizes that investors choose altcoins, considering bitcoin too slow for their investment portfolios. In his opinion, Ethereum has the potential to grow to $2,800 in the next 4-8 weeks.

However, he also warns that in the current market conditions, the correction in altcoins can be rapid and deep.

Vladimir Cohen points to the activity in the GameFi sector and names promising coins such as GALA and Enj Alice. He also does not exclude the appearance of new meme coins and the growth of quotations of existing ones, such as Floki Inu.

Cohen also highlights the potential in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector and mentions FET, GRT coins, and also expects new coins to appear in this sector. He also mentions coins from the DeFi ecosystem, such as MKR, CRV and SNX, and considers them more reliable investments.