Eric Robertsen – Global Head of Research at Standard Chartered – thinks bitcoin could tumble to $5,000 next year as more cryptocurrency firms might experience liquidity issues. He believes 2023 could be prosperous for gold, envisioning the yellow metal’s price to surge to $2,250 per ounce. As reported by CNBC, Robertson argued that 2023 could bring more pain for the cryptocurrency market, specifically bitcoin.

He predicted the asset’s price could crash to $5,000, or a 70% decline compared to the current valuation. The collapse could come as a result of a future crisis of other cryptocurrency firms and platforms that could find themselves with “insufficient liquidity,” pushing them towards bankruptcy protection. Other negative events like the FTX one could severely affect investor confidence in the sector, Robertson added: “Yields plunge along with technology shares, and while the Bitcoin sell-off decelerates, the damage has been done.”

The primary digital currency has already lost a considerable chunk of its valuation throughout the ongoing bear market. It traded at around $47,000 at the beginning of 2022, while as of the moment of writing these lines, it stands at about $17,000.  Contrary to bitcoin, Standard Chartered’s analyst forecasted that gold could be among the big winners next year, soaring to $2,250 per ounce. The price expansion could represent a 25% increase compared to the current level and a new all-time high for the precious metal. “The 2023 resurgence in gold [also] comes as equities resume their bear market and the correlation between equity and bond prices shifts back to negative,” Robertsen said.