Ben Armstrong: Fed will stop rate hikes by December 2022; BTC will cross $70k mark

BitBoy Crypto says Fed will not reverse rates till next year.
BTC will cross the $70,000 mark post halving.

In an interview with Michelle Makori of Kitco news, Ben Armstrong, a.k.a ‘BitBoy Crypto’ speculated that Fed will stop raising rates by December this year. However, the central bank may not ‘pivot’ (reduce interest rate).

He also explained why Ethereum should not be called an altcoin (anymore) and why it was superior to Bitcoin.

Fed will stop rate hikes in December, pivot unlikely

The Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powel asserted in clear terms that the Fed would continue to do whatever necessary to control inflation. He essentially implied that rate hikes would not stop until prices fell – even if unemployment grows. The Fed’s target inflation rate is 2%. The present inflation rate is 8.2% (annually).

Armstrong said that the Fed will come under global pressure, and may not be able to maintain the rate-hike spree. He argued that raising rates at the current pace would make US goods expensive in the global market. Soaring prices across the world will eventually affect the US economy and that will force the Fed to stop.

Bitcoin prices and US elections

Armstrong is the man behind the YouTube channel “BitBoy Crypto.” He explained some of his controversial tweets in the interview:

“I was referring to the overwhelming feeling of being struck in a very tight range. It has been stuck between the 18k to 19k range.”

“It is similar to 2019 when it was in the $6k range…I was really just trying to touch on the feeling that Bitcoin is so boring right now. It has broken the correlation with the stock market and now it is correlated with gold.”

Armstrong noted that historically, BTC prices spike after presidential elections and plummet after midterm elections. 3-5 weeks after the midterm elections BTC prices hit bottom and this time, by November end with November 28th as a ballpark date price could drop to $8k-10k levels.

After the last midterm elections (held on Nov 06th, 2018) BTC price fell nearly 52%.

BTC halving and the next ATH

Ben claimed that Bitcoin prices will go past $70,000 after the 2024 halving event. Bitcoin halving is essentially the process of reducing Bitcoin’s mining output by half. Most of the whales are early miners and they will drive demand when the supply falls. He argued that supply per se was not being reduced, instead the production rate was being cut. Historically, BTC price marks its next all time high (ATH) after 6-8 months.

Armstrong claims that though nothing can beat Bitcoin’s position as digital gold, Ethereum is a superior currency since it has high growth potential.

The last time bitcoin halving took place, the next ath was recorded within the same year. The last halving was done on May 11, 2020 and the previous ath was around the $19,500 mark. Bitcoin price crossed that mark in November 2020 – roughly 6 months after the halving event. On April 14th, 2021, almost a year later, the price touched the $64,000 mark. It’s thus highly likely that prices will cross the $69,000 (latest ath) in late 2024 or early 2025.

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing