Following the crypto market’s strong rebound on Friday, CNBC Fast Money, who has become near-infamous for its coverage of this early-stage market, called upon crypto proponent Mike Novogratz to make an appearance to discuss the current state of the cryptocurrency industry.

To the surprise of some, Novogratz actually agreed to appear on the show, joining the Fast Money panel for an 11-minute segment that covered all things crypto (and cannabis). Novogratz, who is Galaxy Digital’s CEO, opened up his segment by calling back to his forecast that cryptocurrency prices have finally bottomed.

He added that this bullish claim was based on a series of unnamed technical indicators, which apparently are turning bullish, along with the fact that the infamous, so-called “ICO sell-off” is likely over, or at least for now.

Although cryptocurrencies have seemingly bottomed, the Galaxy Digital CEO went on to explain the reason why BTC could head higher from here, instead of continuing the mundane sideways price movement that has become commonplace over the past few weeks.

Novogratz, who claimed to have allocated 20% of his net worth into crypto assets at one point, drew attention to the fact that a variety of institutions are still showing interest in this space, which he sees as the primary catalyst that will push cryptocurrencies to new heights. Backing up this claim, the cryptocurrency advocate explained that venture capital firms are still investing heavily into this nascent technology, as seen by the dozens of funding rounds of cryptocurrency-focused startups that occurred within the past few months.

Moreover, the former institutional investor explained that legacy market firms, like Goldman Sachs and the NYSE’s parent company, are hard at work establishing the groundwork that will facilitate an influx of investment. He elaborated, stating:

It’s also a bull market in institutions building the infrastructure needed for real money investors to start investing in this space… I think that in three to six months from now, there will be an ‘all clear’ sign for people — big institutions and pension [funds] — to start investing.

Keeping this in mind, the CEO explained that institutions may begin to “FOMO” into this market by year’s end, which may spark another round of exponential, ground-breaking growth that crypto assets have become known for.

Although the fundamentals of this budding industry are as strong as ever, Novogratz added that traders will still need to keep an eye on the $6,800, $8,800 and $10,000 price levels, as a powerful move above these lines of resistance, coupled with institutional involvement, will make Bitcoin’s next bull run a reality.

And it seems that the cards are already starting to fall into place, as the former Fortress Investment executive claimed that Bitcoin will almost undoubtedly reach $8,800 or $10,000 come January 1st, 2019.

The Mysterious XRP Surge

Fast Money, which is a segment that covers markets that see drastic price movements, as its name implies, carved out some time to discuss XRP, which saw a mind-bending rally over the past two to three days. More specifically, XRP moved from a weekly low of $0.27 to a multi-month high of $0.7 within a span of a short 72 hours, which dropped the jaws of many short-term speculators in this industry.

Mellisa Lee, CNBC Fast Money’s host, queried Novogratz on his opinion about the aforementioned price surge, asking the well-established figure to try to explain the current state of XRP. Responding with a tint of skepticism, the Galaxy Digital executive stated:

“They’re building a great business. Full disclosure — we’re (Galaxy Digital) a 1% owner in Ripple the company, not the coin… They have a good story. When something jumps 3x, I don’t understand it. [Maybe] it’s a short squeeze to a degree, as I’m sure some people were short, but there were [likely] new buyers.”

Photo by Andrzej Kryszpiniuk on Unsplash