Bitcoin’s 2024 halving and the potential approval of Bitcoin ETFs are the two key events that could support a crypto market bull run in 2024. Bitcoin supply-demand conditions are aligning perfectly to take advantage. Long-term BTC holders are accumulating coins reducing the market supply. Institutional investor interest in Bitcoin steadily rose in 2023 highlighted by record high open interest in BTC futures and narrowing of GBTC discount to NAV.
2024 could be the year when Bitcoin (BTC) leads the broader cryptocurrency market into another crypto bull market. Bitcoin supply-demand conditions are aligned to take advantage of the upcoming Bitcoin halving event due in April 2024.
We could see a scenario where BTC supply abruptly drops amid a surge of institutional demand due to two key events – Bitcoin’s fourth halving event and the potential approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
In this article, we will look at the possibility of a Bitcoin bull run purely from a supply-demand point of view for the cryptocurrency.
- Bitcoin Halving
Sometime in April 2024, Bitcoin is expected to undergo its fourth halving cycle, after which the number of Bitcoins minted with each block will reduce by 50% from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.
Bear in mind that newly-minted coins first hit the coffers of Bitcoin miners. Bitcoin mining is a capital-intensive operation that forces miners to sell a chunk of their BTC income to cover operational expenses. Therefore, the market supply of BTC will not shrink immediately following the halving.
A look at historical BTC/USD charts showed that Bitcoin traded rangebound for a couple of months before breaking out into a bull run, following the second Bitcoin halving event in July 2016 and the third Bitcoin halving event in May 2020.
A similar brewing phase can be expected in 2024 when the mining community adjusts to the reduced mint supply, and periodic price spikes reignite the fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) feeling among investors.
- Investor Accumulation
The present-day crypto market is more informed and prepared than it was in the lead-up to past halving events. It comes as no surprise that Bitcoin investors are accumulating coins to take advantage of the 2024 halving event.
In this regard, Michael Saylor and his publicly-listed firm, Microstrategy, are leading the way. The firm acquired an additional 16,130 BTC at an average price of $36,785 per BTC in November 2023. At the time of writing, Microstrategy held 174,530 BTC, accounting for nearly 0.9% of BTC’s circulating supply.