RIGA, Latvia—Bitcoin whales are holding on to their coins, crypto hedge fund manager Murad Mahmudov told the audience this weekend at Baltic Honeybadger, a Bitcoin conference.
Azerbaijan-based Mahmudov, a former analyst at Goldman Sachs and one of the most respected crypto researchers in the industry, referred to analytics by crypto hedge fund, Adaptive Capital, where he is head of investment.
“We have noticed that large bitcoin holders aren’t selling or aren’t moving their coins in the last couple of months,” said Mahmudov. ‘“Yes, price may go higher or lower, in the short term, but we remain very bullish in the medium term as well,” he added.
The research was just one of more than 50 “positive catalysts” for bitcoin’s advancement that Mahmudov claimed to have identified, and which he shared with the audience.
They included: a steady reduction in bitcoin volatility; deteriorating trust in institutions such as government and banks; attempts to ban the use of cash; increasing global debt and wealth inequality; the growing strength and development of the Bitcoin network and infrastructure; increasing Internet and smartphone penetration, and even the growth in bitcoin memes.
Decrypt caught up with Mahmudov after his talk and asked which of the catalysts he considered to be most important.
“The elimination of cash and, probably, a push for deeper and deeper negative rates are likely to be the two strongest forces out of the 50 I mentioned,” he replied.
“Just speaking from a price perspective, it will really be large capital holders that determine Bitcoin’s future, to a greater extent,” he explained. “I think they’ll be looking for alternative assets very, very soon, and bitcoin is very likely to fill the void.”