Bitcoin bull Tom Lee says $100,000 by year-end still possible despite 'very rough patch'

Published Tue, Jun 22 202112:10 PM EDTUpdated Tue, Jun 22 20214:52 PM EDT

Kevin Stankiewicz @in/kevin-stankiewicz-b5593466 @kevin_stank

Bitcoin faces a rough technical picture in the near term, Wall Street strategist Tom Lee told CNBC on Tuesday, after the cryptocurrency sank below $30,000 for the first time since late January. However, the bitcoin bull reiterated his belief that the world's largest cryptocurrency by market value could reach $100,000 per token by the end of 2021 . Just after noon ET, it briefly turned positive on the day. Bitcoin was up about 1% around 4:50 p.m., according to Coin Metrics. "Bitcoin is in a very rough patch now. I think the technical picture in sort of the current term doesn't look great," the co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors said on "TechCheck." "We have to keep in mind that bitcoin makes most of its gains in 10 days in a single year, so the idea that it's below $30,000 now doesn't rule out the ability for this to generate some really big gains before year-end and potentially touch $100,000 or higher," Lee said. Some technical analysts had identified $30,000 as a crucial support level for bitcoin, which has faced about two months of pressure after setting an all-time high near $65,000 in April. Earlier in Tuesday's session, the cryptocurrency briefly went negative for 2021 when it dropped below $29,000, according to Coin Metrics. The latest move in bitcoin comes in the wake of reports that China was intensifying its crackdown on bitcoin, including on mining for the cryptocurrency. Miners use high-powered computers to verify transactions, playing a crucial role in the bitcoin ecosystem. They are rewarded in bitcoin. More than half of the world's miners had been located in China . While China's actions are weighing on sentiment now, Lee said he believes miners having a greater geographic diversity is positive over the long term. "It's the same reason why people don't want to see oil production in politically unstable areas," Lee said. In order for bitcoin to maintain its goal of "censorship resistance," mining needs to be where production costs are cheapest, "and that wasn't necessarily China," he said. The investors who are selling bitcoin on the recent spate of negative headlines may be retail traders who jumped in earlier this year when the cryptocurrency mounted its massive rally, Lee suggested. "I think their reaction to the headlines is really speaking to the idea that you are trying to transfer bitcoin right now from these meme hands or people buying it for the price into hands of people who appreciate, really, the technology and the idea of sound money," said Lee, a longtime bitcoin bull who served as chief equity strategist at JPMorgan before co-founding Fundstrat. "It would be very hard for people to find another generational, multidecade story outside digital assets," Lee said. "So, as much as 2021 feels like a terrible year for crypto investors, in a fractal of a decade, this is kind of noise, and it's a great buying opportunity."

Tom Lee

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Bitcoin faces a rough technical picture in the near term, Wall Street strategist Tom Lee told CNBC on Tuesday, after the cryptocurrency sank below $30,000 for the first time since late January.

However, the bitcoin bull reiterated his belief that the world's largest cryptocurrency by market value could reach $100,000 per token by the end of 2021.

Just after noon ET, it briefly turned positive on the day. Bitcoin was up about 1% around 4:50 p.m., according to Coin Metrics.

"Bitcoin is in a very rough patch now. I think the technical picture in sort of the current term doesn't look great," the co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors said on "TechCheck."