Jan Van Eck, CEO of $107 billion asset manager VanEck, has predicted that Bitcoin could rise to $350,000 per coin if central banks move to quantitative easing.
In a recent one interview Speaking to Fox Business, Van Eck expressed his optimistic outlook, suggesting Bitcoin’s market capitalization could reach half that of gold. He said:
“Eventually the Fed will start easing, and that’s great for gold and Bitcoin. Bitcoin is maturing. It would eventually amount to half of gold’s total market capitalization. So that’s $350,000.”
Currently, Bitcoin ranks ninth among global top assets by market capitalization at $1.27 trillion, while gold remains the leader with a market cap of $16.8 trillion. Despite gold’s dominance, Van Eck believes Bitcoin could soon surpass silver’s market cap of $1.6 trillion.
Van Eck added that under a “Super Bowl” scenario, in which several major central banks adopt Bitcoin as a reserve asset, the flagship crypto could skyrocket to $2.9 million, fulfilling predictions from the recent research report from reaffirms his company.
Van Eck’s projections are reminiscent of Michael Saylor’s at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, where he suggested Bitcoin could reach $3 million by 2045 if it captures 5% of global wealth.
Long-term projections
VanEck’s latest research report outlines an ambitious scenario where Bitcoin could reach a staggering $2.9 million per coin by 2050 in a ‘base case’.
According to the report, written by the company’s head of digital assets, Matthew Sigel, and senior investment analyst Patrick Bush, this valuation depends on the adoption of Bitcoin as a global medium of exchange and reserve asset, potentially revolutionizing the international financial system.
The report states that Bitcoin could handle 10% of the world’s international trade and 5% of domestic trade by 2050. Furthermore, central banks are expected to hold 2.5% of their assets in Bitcoin.
This scenario, based on global growth forecasts and the velocity of money, suggests a potential Bitcoin price of $2.9 million, resulting in a total market capitalization of $61 trillion.
Challenges
VanEck’s report highlighted that Bitcoin’s scalability issues, historically a major barrier to its adoption, will be addressed by emerging Bitcoin Layer-2 (L2) solutions. These solutions could enable Bitcoin to support a global financial system that better meets the needs of developing countries.
Despite the optimistic outlook, VanEck acknowledges several risks that could hinder Bitcoin’s growth. Rising energy demands for future Bitcoin mining, potential regulatory challenges, and competition from other cryptocurrencies are among the top concerns.
Bitcoin fell to around $62,000 ahead of the August 2 US jobs report, which came in lower than expected and revealed unemployment had risen 4.3%. The flagship crypto has found support at this significant demand level for now, but is struggling to climb above the week’s low value area and is trending sideways.
BTC was trading at $62,900 at the time of writing, having wiped out most of the gains over the past 24 hours, based on CryptoSlate data.
Bitcoin Market Data
At the time of printing 20:07 UTC on August 2, 2024Bitcoin is number 1 in terms of market capitalization and so is its price down 0.39% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $1.24 trillion with a 24-hour trading volume of $41.83 billion. Learn more about Bitcoin ›
Summary of the crypto market
At the time of printing 20:07 UTC on August 2, 2024the total crypto market is valued at € $2.23 trillion with a 24-hour volume of $89.12 billion. Bitcoin’s dominance currently stands at 55.65%. Learn more about the crypto market ›