Is bitcoin about to soar in 2023? Or plunge even further?

Bitcoin is crawling upward. It crossed the $17,000 threshold on Friday, trading at the highest value since FTX, a cryptoexchange valued at $32 billion, declared bankruptcy and shook the markets last month.

The Federal Reserve earlier last month raised the lending rate by .75%, marking the fourth straight increase of that size and sixth overall interest rate boost this year, as Art Raymond reported for the Deseret News.

“Over the next several weeks if inflation steadily heads lower and the economy looks like it is doing well, risky assets, which includes bitcoin, could still rally from here,” Edward Moya, an analyst at broker Oanda, told Barron’s. “A full-fledged rally will struggle to take hold until we know the full contagion risk from FTX and if other strains emerge for stablecoins.”

The market conditions may allow prices to slowly reach above $20,000, but Moya believes it would cap at $21,500.

But venture capitalist Tim Draper thinks otherwise. In an interview with CNBC, he predicted that bitcoin would soar by the middle of 2023.

That’s a 1,400% increase from its current value of $17,000 to nearly $250,000. This year alone, the cryptocurrency’s value dropped nearly 65%. Draper is the founder of Draper Associates, a firm that has successfully bet on companies like Tesla and Skype.

“I expect a flight to quality and decentralized crypto like bitcoin, and for some of the weaker coins to become relics,” he said.

For now, bitcoin hasn’t completely dropped in value.

“How are we still approaching $17,000? That says something. It’s indicative that people are still using cryptos and trying to safeguard assets. Trust hasn’t been shaken to the core,” Hany Rashwan, CEO of 21.co, a crypto investment firm, told CNN.

Meanwhile, another industry member pointed out what could lie ahead in 2023: increased regulation.

“We are going to see some challenges for the foreseeable future. But we do expect improvements ultimately. This will be a catalyst. There will be growing institutional adoption,” said John Avery, strategy and product leader for crypto, Web3 and capital markets at FIS, per the news outlet.

That will help “balance innovation and investor protection,” he added.