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

The local bottom for bitcoin (BTC) 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.