Bitcoin price predictions vary widely, but Draper's not budging from his sky-high target

It’s no secret that 2022 was a brutal year for Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and cryptocurrencies in general. As we’ll see, there’s no firm consensus when it comes to Bitcoin price predictions for 2023. Yet, billionaire Tim Draper is standing by his very optimistic price target of $250,000 for Bitcoin by the end of this year. Will his prediction turn out to be spot-on, or a dud?

Only time will tell, and it’s a challenging crypto market environment due to last year’s notorious FTX scandal. The ripple effects of that cryptocurrency exchange’s collapse are still reverberating throughout the financial markets.

Perhaps Eric Robertsen, global head of research at Standard Chartered, had the FTX debacle in mind when he issued this warning:

“More and more crypto firms and exchanges find themselves with insufficient liquidity, leading to further bankruptcies and a collapse in investor confidence in digital assets.”

Standard Chartered analysts forecast Bitcoin could go as low as $5,000 this year. Robertson added that “while the Bitcoin selloff decelerates, the damage has been done.”

Draper’s Eye-Opening Bitcoin Price Prediction

Meanwhile, investor Mark Mobius slapped a 2023 price target of $10,000 on Bitcoin. Mobius seemed to suggest that since Bitcoin doesn’t pay interest, it’s less attractive to investors at a time when bonds are paying relatively high yields.

Carol Alexander, a professor of finance at Sussex University, envisions financial “whales” probably stepping in to prop up the cryptocurrency market. Hence, Alexander’s 2023 price target for Bitcoin is quite bullish at $50,000.

That’s nothing compared to Draper’s Bitcoin price prediction of $250,000. He previously forecast the cryptocurrency would reach that price by the end of 2022.

Now, Draper is sticking to his $250,000 prediction for Bitcoin, but extending the time horizon to mid-2023. His reasoning is interesting, to say the least:

“My assumption is that since women control 80% of retail spending, and only 1 in 7 bitcoin wallets are currently held by women that the dam is about to break.”

I’m unable to confirm these statistics, so prospective Bitcoin investors are encouraged to conduct their own due diligence. In any event, Draper’s bullish forecast isn’t limited to this year. In particular, he suspects the Bitcoin “halvening in 2024 will have a positive run.”

Bitcoin was fairly flat this morning, so it’s not “off to the races” right now for the world’s most popular cryptocurrency. Nevertheless, the wide range of Bitcoin price predictions are worth noting. And if Draper is right this time, the crypto bulls could have an amazing year.

On the date of publication, David Moadel did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.