Diginex Anticipating Bitcoin Rise to $175K by End of 2021: CEO

Richard Byworth, CEO of Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Diginex, foresees bitcoin tripling in value before 2022.

"We are modeling out about $175,000 for the price of bitcoin by the end of this year," Byworth said on Monday during an interview with Bloomberg.

The bull run is still in its early stages, he said, adding "things are going to get a lot more heated from here."

The top cryptocurrency by market value is trading near $57,940 at press time, having hit a record high of $61,556.59 on Saturday, according to CoinDesk 20 data. Prices have rallied by 500% since early October.

According to Byworth, the Federal Reserve's massive money printing program and the devaluation of the dollar is having a "push effect onto bitcoin." The top cryptocurrency by market value is further facing a supply crisis due to the miners reward halving in May 2020 (which halved the issuance of new units) and increased institutional participation, he said.

"We are starting to see institutional adoption to a degree that is so extreme, that you've got four companies – MicroStrategy, Tesla, Square and now recently Meitu – owning 40% of bitcoin's annual supply in just a few months," Byworth said.

Also read: The Case for $1M Bitcoin

Speaking about potential risks to the bullish price outlook, Byworth said an early unwinding of stimulus by the U.S. Federal Reserve "would put a bit of a [damper] on things."

Markets recently started pricing in a shift in the timing of the first Fed interest rate hike to the end 2022 from 2024. However, according to Byworth, the U.S. central bank has little room to unwind stimulus, as the longer-term technological backdrop is deflationary.

When quizzed about regulators' concerns about the blockchain technology's anonymity factor, Byworth said that "bitcoin isn't anonymous, and can be tracked very very easily."