Retail investors and crypto enthusiasts are the drivers behind bitcoin's recent surge to $30,000, and don't be surprised if the asset notches new highs over the next two years, according to Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz. "It's about bringing people into the tent," he told CNBC's " Squawk Box " on Tuesday. "As price goes up, every crypto owner is reaching out to his friends or colleagues and saying, 'Hey, you got to get in on this.' And so, the adoption cycle always accelerates when the price is going up – and we're seeing that – but it really has been a crypto-led rally." Bitcoin halving, a pending credit crunch and greater adoption should drive crypto to new highs within the next two years, he added. The comments from Novogratz come as bitcoin punched above the $30,000 level for the first time since June, while ether advanced toward the $2,000 level. Crypto assets have rallied this year as some investors bet the Federal Reserve will soon pause its hiking cycle. In 2022, the assets came under pressure amid the collapse of major crypto exchange FTX and the central bank's aggressive fight against inflation. Novogratz said an uptick in business has been fueled in part by the failure of some competitors rather than growth in the "overall U.S. institutional pie." Despite renewed regulatory scrutiny around Coinbase , he expects the company to thrive because it's "doing a lot of smart things." "The real big win will be when the U.S. says here's an ETF because that'll allow everybody the simplest way to safely buy it without having to really understand the ecosystem, and so, I'm hopeful on that," he said.
