Fundstrat cofounder Tom Lee expects Bitcoin (TIKER: BTC.EXANTE) prices to rise after the April 17 tax deadline, CNBC reports.
Tom Lee estimates that US cryptocurrency investors owe $25 billion in capital-gains taxes, or about 20% of all such payments due for 2017.
"This is a massive outflow from crypto to USD and historical estimates are each $1 of USD outflow is $20-$25 impact on crypto market value," he said.
The expert believes that selling pressure is also being piled up by crypto exchanges.
"Many exchanges have net income in 2017 [of more than] $1 billion and keep working capital in Bitcoin or Ethereum and not in USD — hence, to meet these tax liabilities, are selling BTC/ETH.”
Lee still sees Bitcoin nearly tripling to $20,000 by the middle of this year, and rising further to $25,000 by year-end. He expects Ethereum (TIKER: ETH/USD.BITFINEX) to quadruple to $1,500 by the middle of the year and ultimately reach $1,900 by the end of the year.
By Siranush Ghazanchyan