Bitcoin has surprisingly held up since the FTX collapse, but the fall to $10,000 will take more time, strategist says

• Bitcoin has shown surprising strength in the wake of the FTX implosion, according to Peter Tchir.
• The Academy Securities strategist told Bloomberg TV on Wednesday that a fall to $10,000 would take more time.

Bitcoin has remained surprisingly resilient in the wake of the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX, and a steeper dip in the price of the world's largest cryptocurrency will take time, according to Academy Securities strategist Peter Tchir.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday, Tchir said bitcoin is more likely to fall to $10,000 before climbing to $25,000, while investors re-evaluate their crypto holdings after the fall of the world's second-largest exchange.

"I would've thought bitcoin would be drifting toward $10,000 faster. it's actually bounced a little bit and we're almost at $18,000," Tchir said. "On the other hand, I think we all talk about the Lehman moment, and Lehman was never a moment. These things take weeks and months to play out."

Former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested by authorities in the Bahamas on Tuesday, and faces extradition back to the US where prosecutors are accusing him of knowingly defrauding investors of nearly $2 billion.

While "there are no rules" when it comes to crypto, Tchir added that "there are a lot of people who are incentivized to keep crypto higher," which makes the recent strength of bitcoin less of a surprise.

"I think it's going to take time for people to pull back and say, 'OK what do I own, where do I own it, does this make sense," Tchir said.