Pantera Stays Bullish on Bitcoin

The largest digital currency hit a record high above $64,000 Wednesday, putting it on track to meet Pantera’s price prediction of $115,000 by August 2021.

article-image

Dan Morehead, founder, CEO and Co-CIO of Pantera Capital

share

key takeaways

  • The rally we are seeing today is no different than past run-ups, except now there is unprecedented institutional backing, says Pantera CEO Dan Morehead
  • Morehead doesn’t see rally stalling anytime soon

When valuing bitcoin, Pantera Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer Dan Morehead said it all comes down to supply and demand. 

The largest digital currency hit a record high above $64,000 Wednesday, putting it on track to meet Pantera’s price prediction of $115,000 by August 2021. 

Morehead said the projection is based on data from previous halving cycles. The rally we are seeing today is no different than past run-ups, except now there is unprecedented institutional backing. 

“On the demand side, we’ve had massive companies like Morgan Stanley and PayPal enter the market. That shifts the demand curve much higher,” Morehead wrote in April’s letter to investors. “At the same time, the supply of newly-issued bitcoin was cut in half last May—as part of the every-four-years halving of bitcoin issuance.” 

Morehead doesn’t see the rally stalling anytime soon. “For every million new users, the price of bitcoin rises $200,” Morehead wrote. “It happened every time except for February 2016, when the price was slow to hit.”

Bitcoin price increases
Source: Pantera

If the trend continues, Morehead wrote, bitcoin will reach $200,000 in 2022. That would be a 213% increase from bitcoin’s price today, which is on trend for the asset’s typical yearly return. 

Beyond bitcoin

It’s not just bitcoin that is seeing tremendous growth, Morehead stressed. He is also confident that alternative coins ethereum and polkadot will continue to perform along with decentralized finance protocols. 

Non-bitcoin market share
Source: Pantera

In January, Pantera reported that the market cap of bitcoin and ethereum was 84% of the overall market. All 5,000 other projects made up a combined 16%, but that is starting to change. 

“The non-bitcoin and ethereum market share has more than doubled, from 16% to 34%, in the past three months,” Morehead wrote. “Watch this space. That’s where the largest gains are likely to be.”

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Maple Finance has successfully navigated significant market challenges through its strategic pivot to secured lending (Maple v2) and the launch of its Syrup product. Syrup has become a primary growth driver, delivering sustainable, outperforming stablecoin yields and rapidly increasing TVL. The upcoming custody-first Bitcoin staking product (istBTC) presents another significant avenue for expansion. Crucially, Maple has achieved operational profitability, a key inflection point that, combined with a fully vested token and active buyback mechanism, strengthens its investment case. While valuation metrics suggest potential undervaluation relative to peers and growth, the primary forward-looking risk identified is the long-term sustainability of its current high-take-rate collateral staking revenue model.

article-image

In 2014, Microsoft virus scanners were detecting viruses in Bitcoin software

article-image

Ledn’s Mauricio Di Bartolomeo explained how this cycle’s been different for the lender

article-image

The shorts looking for funding range from charming animated series to gritty live-action dramas

article-image

Money, it turns out, is emergent, like consciousness

article-image

Bridge flows churn in both directions as risk appetite returns