Big Bitcoin price prediction by Pantera but BTC Maxis doesn’t like it.

Institutional adoption is gaining momentum following the introduction of the Bitcoin ETF in January, and Pantera expects a convergence of positive factors including the upcoming half in late April 2024, the hedge fund believes that this will drive the next bull market.

Pantera also described the current level as the beginning of the fourth major cycle, predicting strong growth in crypto over the next 18 to 24 months.

A half trillion dollar untapped opportunity

In its latest investor note, Pantera estimated its potential value at half a trillion dollars, describing it as a huge opportunity for Bitcoin.

The hedge fund estimates that if decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin reaches the same scale as Ethereum, the total value of DeFi applications could reach $225 billion, which is 25% of Bitcoin's market cap. This estimate ranges from $72 billion to $450 billion, which is no change in Bitcoin's current market value.

Furthermore, Pantera pointed out that the leading DeFi application on Bitcoin could eventually reach a value of $20 billion, which includes 2.2% of Bitcoin's value and potentially ranks among the 10 most valuable assets in the crypto ecosystem.

Although bitcoin is close to returning to trillion-dollar asset status, Pantera says it has missed a significant half-trillion-dollar opportunity.

“Bitcoin's age of neglect may finally be over. In the post-ETF era, Wall Street is finally realizing the obvious about Bitcoin as an asset. The next era will be about Bitcoin as a technology and the excitement of building for Bitcoin again.

Bitcoin DeFi so far

Maximalists insist that Bitcoin remain solely as a digital asset, opposed to an ecosystem that facilitates blockchain applications such as DeFi and NFTs. But in the year 2023 saw a psychological shift in the Bitcoin community and renewed appetite from investors for DeFi on Bitcoin.

Pantera highlighted that the release of fungible and non-perishable assets started the first Defi and NFT activity on Ethereum, and that similar early signs are “bubbling up” in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Additionally, the failure of centralized services such as FTX, BlockFi, Celsius, and Genesis may result in the entire pool of investors exploring new opportunities in DeFi through centralized financial platforms.

Thus, a decentralized financial system seems to be slowly emerging, with Bitcoin serving as the cornerstone. Pantera also suggested that the potential evolution of this decentralized financial system over Bitcoin could rival or surpass the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem.