The Long And The Short Of It: Bitcoin Bull, Bear Weigh In On Huge Move

Bitcoin surged to another new all-time high this week, crossing the $11,000 level for the first time. But while some onlookers see bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a massive financial bubble, others say the bitcoin rally is just getting started.

For the third time this month, Standpoint Research analyst Ronnie Moas raised his target for bitcoin. After raising it from $8,000 to $11,000 back on November 3 and again to $14,000 on November 20, Moas once again upped his target price to $20,000. Moas also has a long-term target of $60,000.

The Bull Thesis

More countries are embracing cryptocurrencies and removing barriers that kept investors away, Moas said in a Wednesday note. But Moas is not trying to be a hero by keeping his target the highest on the Street. Moas sees bitcoin, which has a total market cap of $180 billion, as a legitimate alternative to gold, which has a global supply valued at around $7 trillion.

“An argument can be made that Bitcoin will be equal to Gold within 10-15 years,” Moas said.

Despite his bold, bullish predictions, Moas said cryptocurrency investors shouldn’t put all their eggs in one backet and should instead invest in at least a dozen different currencies among the top 50 cryptos by market cap. Moas previously said investors should shrug off bubble concerns from the likes of Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffett, since each of those prominent Wall Street CEOs is heavily invested in the traditional banking industry that's threatened by bitcoin.

The Bear Thesis

But not everybody is buying the bitcoin bull argument. Citron Research’s Andrew Left has been bearish on bitcoin since September 1. At that time, Left argued the Bitcoin Investment Trust GBTC was grossly overpriced at around $1,000. It has since surged higher by more than 65 percent. Left said the fact that the GBTC couldn’t get its bitcoin holdings insured at a price of $2,200 per coin doesn’t bode well for investors.

“If something is so dangerous that it is uninsurable, do you want to own it?” he said. On Wednesday, Left took to Twitter to recommend shorting the GBTC ETF either as part of a long pair trade with bitcoin or as a unhedged short on bitcoin.

Great advice for bitcoin mania. short $GBTC and buy bitcoin. The spread is over 40% with derivatives and futures are around the corner. At today's Bitcoin price. $GBTC should be under $1100 Or go unhedged and it is shorting Bitcoin at 14k

— Citron Research (@CitronResearch) November 29, 2017

Price Action

The GBTC ETF was trading up another 11.9 percent on Wednesday and is now up 1,270 percent year-to-date.

Related Links:

Citron Compares Bitcoin To Other Commodity Trusts, Still Sees Big Downside To GBTC

A Guide To Who Loves And Hates Cryptocurrency