Mike Novogratz, CEO of asset manager Galaxy Digital, suggests that Bitcoin has been trading sideways recently as corporations increasingly focus on accumulating altcoins, though he expects a potential upswing later this year.
“Bitcoin is in a consolidation phase right now, partly because many corporate treasuries are taking their chances with other coins,” Novogratz said on Thursday’s episode of CNBC’s Squawk Box.
Among altcoin-focused treasury firms, blockchain technology company BitMine Immersion Technologies has been particularly active, recently purchasing $200 million in Ether and boosting its total holdings to over $9 billion in ETH.
Altcoins are injecting both capital and momentum into the crypto market
On Monday, Nasdaq-listed design and manufacturing firm Forward Industries announced it had raised $1.65 billion in cash and stablecoin commitments to launch a Solana-focused crypto treasury strategy.
Novogratz noted that initiatives like this, driven by crypto-native firms such as Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital, are “bringing energy into the crypto space” as well as “bringing money into the crypto space.”
“And Bitcoin is kind of going sideways a little bit. I think, while these other ecosystems are having their moment, I think probably we have another big surge up towards the end of the year.”
Bitcoin could rally on the back of positive developments
Over the past week, Bitcoin has traded between $110,055 and $116,083, according to CoinGecko. Novogratz said a potential surge could come as the U.S. Federal Reserve begins its “cutting cycle” and as ongoing positive developments continue in the crypto space—for instance, SEC Chair Paul Atkins discussing efforts to modernize securities regulations to support on-chain markets.
The Galaxy Digital CEO also highlighted Nasdaq’s recent filing with the SEC on Monday seeking approval for a rule change to allow tokenized versions of listed stocks and ETFs.
“This blockchain revolution started primarily with Bitcoin as a store of value, and then stablecoins for cross-border payments,” Novogratz said.
“And what held us back was blockchains being fast enough, safe enough, secure enough and trusted enough, and more importantly, a regulatory framework that allowed people to experiment. And so now we have both.”
Crypto market shifting from narrative to strategy
Novogratz also predicts that, despite “healthy competition” among crypto firms, it’s unlikely that a single company will dominate the space as can happen in traditional finance.
“Ethereum has its own community, narrative, and use case. Sure, it competes with Solana and other blockchains, but we’re not going to see one blockchain rule them all,” he said.
“But most importantly for the space, money is going to move into the space, as we start moving from narrative to plot.”
