Bullish Strategist Tom Lee Blames Bitcoin Futures for Recent Market Sell-Off

The co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors and outspoken crypto bull Tom Lee blames Cboe futures for Bitcoin’s recent sell-off.

In a new note to investors, Lee wrote “Bitcoin sees dramatic price changes around Cboe futures expirations,” reports CNBC. “This was something flagged by Justin Saslaw at Raptor Group. We compiled some of the data and this indeed seems to be true. Overall, bitcoin has fallen 18 percent in the 10 days prior to CBOE contract expiration.”

Cboe futures expired Wednesday, as the price of BTC fell to $6,300 – its lowest level since February. Today Bitcoin rebounded and is currently up more than 5% on CoinMarketCap.

In addition to the futures market, there are several other factors that may have attributed to the recent downtown – another exchange hack, probes into Bitcoin price manipulation and ongoing announcements from regulators and governments, such as India and South Korea, addressing the status of cryptocurrencies and the potential for Bitcoin and Ether to be classified as a security, which were both cleared today.

The turbulence and uncertainty in the markets coincides with an increasing number of institutional players, such as Susquehanna International Group, moving into the crypto space and the Nasdaq exploring the possibility of increasing its exposure to cryptocurrencies.

As for the future price of Bitcoin, Lee is still as bullish as ever, with his end-of-the-year price target locked at $25,000.

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