Founder of crypto lending platform argues that bitcoin could hit $100,000 by mid-2022

$Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ Bitcoin could see further upside and surge as high as $100,000 by the middle of 2022, according to Antoni Trenchev of cryptocurrency lender Nexo.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap was trading at $46,170.43 as of 8:42 p.m. ET Monday, according to data from Coin Metrics.

“I think [bitcoin’s] going to reach $100,000 this year, probably by … the middle of it,” Trenchev, co-founder and managing partner at Nexo, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday. The firm claims to be the world’s largest lending institution in the digital finance industry, according to its website. The company has issued more than $6 billion in credit and manages assets for more than 2.5 million users globally, it said.

Bitcoin has largely been a winner in the pandemic era, rising more than 60% in 2021 despite being far off its record high of around $69,000 earlier that year. In comparison, the S&P 500 rose nearly 27% during the same period, while the Dow and Nasdaq gained 18.73% and 21.39% for the year, respectively.

But not everyone is as bullish as Trenchev.

Some experts have warned that bitcoin may be poised for a steep drop in the coming months. Carol Alexander, professor of finance at Sussex University, said she sees bitcoin tanking as low as $10,000 in 2022, virtually wiping out all of its gains in the past year and a half.