• The Standard Chartered analysts predict that as BTC price inches higher, miners will tightly hold on to their supplies.
• This will lead to a positive feedback loop driving prices all the way to $120,000 over the next year and so.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) has been flirting around the $30,000 level for a while, with investors looking out for the next catalyst for further price action. As of press time, Bitcoin is facing some downward selling pressure with BTC price trading 0.6 percent down at $29,747 with a market cap of $578 billion.

Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick believes that Bitcoin miners will play a crucial role in propelling the token’s price to new all-time highs. During the crypto winter of 2022, Bitcoin miners faced huge pain as the BTC price crashed by nearly 80 percent. On the other hand, the Bitcoin mining costs were on a steep rise resulting in little to no profitability.

However, as Bitcoin continues to show strength this year, and with the price rising further, miners are less likely to sell their coins as we approach the Bitcoin halving of 2024. During his interview with Business Insider, Kendrick said that if a higher Bitcoin price causes miners to sell fewer tokens, it would further boost the price eventually creating a positive-feedback loop thereby driving the BTC price above $120,000.

Bitcoin Halving 2024 Provides Another Tailwind

Another positive factor for the coin is its upcoming halving in 2024. During this event, the reward given to miners will be reduced by half. This helps limit the supply of Bitcoins, and in the past, it has resulted in the price of Bitcoin going up.

Miners have few motivations to sell the token besides its price fluctuations, notes Kendrick. Part of this behavior is influenced by the industry’s culture, where many miners choose to hold on to their Bitcoins, hoping that their value will eventually reach remarkable levels.

“So they basically want to have a company that starts out when prices are cheap, get cheaper electricity and stuff, and then hold on. It’s like a super-leveraged play,” he said.

Geoff Kendrick has been bullish about Bitcoin and had predicted $100,000 price levels by 2024, earlier this year. Beyond miner profitability, there could be several other contributing factors behind this, he says. this includes Bitcoin’s safe-haven reputation, institutional interest, regulatory adaptations, less volatility, and alternative currency fall-off.

He particularly mentioned that BlackRock’s filing of the spot Bitcoin ETF particularly signals more demand from institutional players. Also, the Federal Reserve ending its rate-hiking cycle by the year-end would also marginally help Bitcoin. Several market analysts have shared bullish price predictions for Bitcoin by the year-end, as well as for the next year.

Bitcoin Price Remains Rangebound

At the moment, Bitcoin is experiencing some selling pressure, making it challenging to stay above the $30,000 level. According to popular crypto analyst Ali Martinez, on-chain data from Glassnode shows that around 1.72 million BTC were recently moved in the price range of $29,500 to $30,200. This range is considered an important area of resistance.

It’s important to watch this range closely, as it could potentially become a support level. If that happens, we might see exciting and positive price movements!