\n<\/p>\n
Bitcoin could stay below its historical high of $69,000 for the next two years after the latest digital asset market rout<\/a>, according to the chief executive of the world\u2019s largest cryptocurrency exchange.<\/p>\n Changpeng Zhao, founder and chief executive of Binance, said people would have been \u201cvery happy\u201d four years ago had they been told that bitcoin would be trading at $20,000 in 2022. The cornerstone crypto asset fell below that level at the weekend in a symbolic move that represented a wipeout of gains for many long-term bitcoin holders.<\/p>\n \u201cI think given this price drop, from the all-time high of 68k to 20k now, it will probably take a while to get back. It probably will take a few months or a couple of years,\u201d Zhao told the Guardian, adding that \u201cno one can predict the future\u201d.<\/p>\n Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n He added: \u201c20k we think is very low today. But you know, in 2018, 2019, if you told people bitcoin will be 20k in 2022, they would be very happy. In 2018\/19, bitcoin was $3,000, $6,000.\u201d<\/p>\n On Wednesday, bitcoin was trading at $20,491 according to CoinDesk, having hit levels not seen since late 2020 at the weekend.<\/p>\n Asked whether he considered the current fluctuations in bitcoin and crypto prices to be \u201cnormal\u201d, as he had described them in an interview earlier this month, he said: \u201cIf you look at the bottom [of bitcoin], right now it\u2019s higher than the last peak. So, whether normal or not, I think with the industry still definitely growing, fluctuations in price is normal.\u201d<\/p>\n Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been affected by several factors including stock market declines linked to rising inflation and ensuing hikes in interest by central banks. Raising rates \u2013 a path taken by the US, UK and Swiss central banks<\/a> last week \u2013 can make risky assets less attractive. For instance, certain tech stocks, whose price can be based on expectations of strong future earnings over many decades, can be relatively less appealing than the fixed returns on offer immediately from investments such as bonds, which become more attractive in a higher lending rate environment.<\/p>\n However, the crypto market\u2019s woes have also been linked to problems specific to digital assets. Last month, the failure of terra<\/a>, a so-called stablecoin whose value was supposed to be pegged to the dollar, rattled faith in cryptocurrencies. It was followed last week by Celsius Network, a bank-like business that offered high rates of return on cryptocurrency deposits, stopping customer withdrawals. Then Three Arrows Capital, a hedge fund that made expensive bets on the crypto markets, admitted it was in trouble.<\/p>\n Zhao declined to comment on a Bloomberg report that the US financial watchdog is investigating whether Binance broke securities rules when it launched an initial coin offering \u2013 a form of fundraising for companies \u2013 of its BNB token in 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cWe talk with all regulators around the world. They send us questions, we answer them, with an investigation or not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Binance has been banned from undertaking any regulated activity in the UK<\/a> by the Financial Conduct Authority, which said in June last year the firm was \u201cnot capable of being effectively supervised\u201d. <\/p>\n