Many Retail Investors See Bitcoin Price Dropping Below $20K by Year End: Deutsche Bank

The world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin [BTC], has slumped following the launch of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. earlier in the month, and the digital asset could drop even further according to a survey of retail investors by German lender Deutsche Bank (DB).

The bank surveyed 2,000 consumers in the U.S., U.K., and Europe following the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, the bank said in a report on Tuesday.

Over one-third of respondents said that bitcoin prices will drop below $20,000 by year end, and more people expect the cryptocurrency to disappear rather than stay. The survey showed that 39% of participants say they believe that bitcoin will continue to exist in the coming years, while 42% “anticipate its disappearance.”

The approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. was seen as a game changer by many in the industry, with mainstream money now expected to flood into the sector. Investors who couldn’t trade digital assets are now able to use cheap and liquid ETFs to gain exposure without having to own the underlying cryptocurrency itself.

The crypto winter may not be over, as “more than half of the respondents expressed concerns about a major cryptocurrency experiencing a collapse within the next two years,” the bank said.

Deutsche notes that this poor sentiment is likely due to past events, such as the demise of crypto exchange FTX in 2022 and the collapse of terraUSD (UST). The ongoing regulatory crackdown in the U.S. is also seen as an overhang.

The bank’s survey results also highlighted a lack of understanding of cryptocurrencies, with two-thirds of consumers having little or no understanding of digital assets, the report added.