Crypto advocate Mike Novogratz said there’s a good chance of Bitcoin returning to US$30,000 by the end of next month — a far cry from the US$500,000 he once predicted for the digital currency, but still almost 25 per cent above its current price.

“When I look at the price action, when I look at the excitement of the customers calling, the FOMO building up, it wouldn’t surprise me if we were at US$30,000 by the end of the quarter,” the chief executive officer and founder of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. said at a Bank of America Corp. conference Wednesday. “And I would’ve given both my shoes for that to be true just six weeks ago. Like if we end the year US$30,000, I will be the happiest guy.”

Bitcoin on Wednesday rose to its highest level since August, gaining for a second day as a decrease in risk aversion helps to temper concerns about a widening crackdown by U.S. regulators. The largest cryptocurrency by market value jumped 8.2 per cent to US$24,083 as of 4:19 p.m. in New York, its biggest one-day gain in about a month.

Novogratz once said he expected Bitcoin to climb to US$500,000 in 2024. In December, he dialed back that forecast, saying he still expects that benchmark to be reached, but “not in five years.” At the time, he blamed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s interest-rate increases, which he also cited Wednesday. 

“What makes me skeptical that we can have the explosive, back-to-the-old highs this year is Chairman Powell,” Novogratz said. “He’s really doing what he says he’s going to do, and I don’t see the Fed pivoting and cutting anytime soon.”