Bitcoin Could Fall Back to Mid-$20K Area: Chris Burniske

The local bottom for bitcoin BTC$102,434.35 has yet to be hit, said Chris Burniske, partner at venture capital firm Placeholder and former crypto lead at Ark Invest.

He sees the price dropping to at least the $30,000-$36,000 range and wouldn't be surprised if the mid-high $20,000 area were tested prior to an eventual move towards a new all-time high.

"As always, patience is your friend," said Burniske. "The path to get there will be volatile – expect fakeouts – and will take months to play out."

While the long-term trend "remains robust," he added, "we also just saw many of our first parabolas of the cycle, and they're now breaking. Macro looks precarious on a number of levels. New product innovations are close, but not quite there yet ... things still feel insular."

Prior to a 5% rally on Friday, bitcoin had tumbled nearly 20% to under $40,000 following the Jan. 11 opening for trade of the spot bitcoin ETFs. The price stood at $41,700 at press time.

"Never said I'm majorly de-risking, more just counting my bullets and sharpening my blade," concluded Burniske.