McClurg: 'Crypto weakness likely to persist through October'

Steven McClurg, CEO of Canary Capital

Rising U.S. household debt seen driving declines

"Cryptocurrency prices will fall further through October this year."

Steven McClurg, CEO (pictured) of U.S. asset manager Canary Capital, which runs exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to altcoins such as Ripple and Solana, warned in a recent interview with The Korea Economic Daily that crypto prices are likely to remain in a correction through the second half of this year. Bitcoin, which surged to $120,000 (about 170 million won) last year, has recently slipped to the $60,000 range.

He cited two factors behind the decline. One is a shift in macroeconomic conditions. "Delinquency rates on U.S. credit cards, mortgages and student loans are at their highest since the global financial crisis," he said, adding that "not only cryptocurrencies, but also stocks, gold and silver could come under pressure." In other words, heavier household debt burdens could weigh on cryptocurrencies, a risk asset. The other is his outlook based on technical analysis. McClurg said, "Looking at periodic movements in past cycles, I expect the downturn to continue for a year after last October’s peak."

He expects the market to bottom in October this year. "Starting from late this year, when the down cycle ends, a powerful bull market will arrive in 2027," McClurg said, adding that "Bitcoin has room to rise to as much as $200,000–$250,000, and Ripple to as high as $10."

He also stressed the importance of the Korean market. "There are many cases where Bitcoin’s trading volume in Korean won surpasses trading volume in the U.S. dollar, the world’s reserve currency, which shows how influential Korean investors are," he said. "If spot crypto ETF trading is approved in Korea, the ripple effects on global markets would be enormous."

Reporter Yang Ji-yoon yang@hankyung.com