Tom Lee and iTrustCapital CEO Say the Worst Is Over: Can Bitcoin Hold $86,000?

Bitcoin (BTC) traded at $86,423 on Tuesday, up from below $76,000 a week ago. Tom Lee and iTrustCapital’s CEO, Kevin Maloney, say the worst is now behind investors.

Both men made their case after a US interest rate hike and a failed crypto bill, the CLARITY Act. Neither event stopped the pioneer crypto’s rebound.

iTrustCapital CEO Says the Crypto Winter Is Over

Maloney runs iTrustCapital, a platform for crypto and stock investing in retirement accounts. In an interview with Paul Barron, he said the long crypto slump, often called the “crypto winter,” had ended.

His firm was holding about $350 million in idle client cash, Maloney said. He added that “significant portions” were now being invested again.

“Bitcoin doesn’t need Clarity Act,” Maloney said in the interview.

Maloney also named a level to watch. A weekly close above $85,000, he said, would leave Bitcoin in a good position.

Tom Lee Says the Fed Cannot Get More Hawkish

Elsewhere, Fundstrat Capital chief investment officer Tom Lee sees the rate hike as a peak, not the start of a squeeze. He has made that call repeatedly this month.

In his weekly update, Lee pointed to a change in how the government measures inflation, due September 30. He said economists expect it to cut the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation rate, the Fed’s preferred gauge, from 3.4% to near 3%.

“They can’t get any more hawkish than this,” Tom Lee stated.

Lee added that even one more 0.25-point hike would not break the economy or the stock market.

Their Remarks Come After Two Setbacks in One Week

On September 15, the CLARITY Act failed a Senate procedural vote 50-49, short of the 60 needed. The bill would have set out which US regulator oversees digital assets.

A day later, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage points to a 3.75% to 4% range. It was the first increase since 2023. Bitcoin slipped below $76,000 after the vote. It has since recovered.

Fed Projections and ETF Outflows Point the Other Way

Not every signal agrees. Sixteen of 18 Fed officials expect another hike this year, according to the central bank’s projections.

Investors also pulled $450 million from Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on September 15, according to ETF fund flow figures.

Bitcoin sits 0.6% higher on the day, BeInCrypto price data shows. The next test arrives September 30, when the revised inflation figures land.