Coinsquare’s Justin Sun, Roger Ver, Tim Draper, Adam Draper and Eric Richmond provide a glimpse into the future of Bitcoin for 2021.
We’re barely 15 days into the New Year, and it already feels like the seventh season of a pretty bloody hour-long HBO drama. (I already mentioned which.) Angry mobs in the capital building, conspiracies and betrayals, and most of us take refuge in place just trying not to catch the virus.
In the meantime, Bitcoin’s b-plot is taking off.
By the end of 2020, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) quadrupled – leaving some wondering if the gains would follow the familiar plot of 2017 when BTC surpassed $ 20,000 and then lost two-thirds of its value.
Ask the experts
To point us in the right direction in 2021, I interviewed some of the most prominent blockchain and crypto leaders, founders, investors, evangelists and innovators to share their insights on Bitcoin’s trajectory for the year. . Here are their answers edited for length.
Tim Draper Founder of Draper Associates
“Nothing is stable when one technology replaces another. As Bitcoin eclipses government currencies and the banking system, there are going to be many twists and turns. I stand by my prediction of $ 250,000 by the end of 2022 or early 2023.
As institutions move on from thought, it is crazy to imagine a new currency to recognize Bitcoin as a “must have” for every wallet …
While I am most interested in Bitcoin, the currency leader, ETH and XTZ and others have blazed a new trail for smart contracts and proof of stake that will guide the governance of the currency in the future. I like MKR as an insurance company and ANT and JUR as new forms of liquid democracy. I like XRP and BCH for their proliferation, albeit centralized. I love KEEP for its ability to open up new forms of funding. (There are) many more.
Bitcoin has the potential to open up the world and put all (at least virtual) workers on the same platform. Where Bitcoin is still Bitcoin, and if people get paid in Bitcoin, they know what that means … “
Justin Sun, Founder and CEO of TRON and CEO of BitTorrent and Peiwo
“Bitcoin has been one of the top stories of 2021, everyone and their grandmother are talking about BTC this year. Convicts, nocoiners and bears love to take every opportunity to report bitcoin’s death or to assimilate crypto to the dotcom bubble. In my opinion, the recent correction in BTC is a reflection of a healthy market with active traders and investors. BTC still has some way to go in terms of price growth. As of December 2020, a leaked Citi report revealed that one of the bank’s senior analysts believes Bitcoin could potentially peak at $ 318,000 by December 2021. Although everyone is guessing what the price of BTC will be at the end of 2021 , we know for sure that the bull market is here and it looks like it’s here to stay.
Historically, we have seen the altcoin season take off as Bitcoin hits record highs. Notably, when BTC broke its all-time high in the last two bull cycles altcoins have generally rallied in its wake … altcoins like ETH and LTC don’t need me to cheerleader on their behalf. and have already seen significant gains during this bull run. However, with negligible transaction fees and a rapidly expanding DeFi ecosystem, TRON is quickly becoming a hotbed of DeFi innovation.
The average individual who buys crypto during a bull run has minimal or no understanding of cryptonomy, the impact of regulation, institutional investing, buyer sentiment and the global economy have a impact on the price movements of BTC. This is enough to scare most novice investors, one thing to keep in mind is that the crypto market is always moving towards equilibrium and we are bound to see pushups and retracements … “
Roger Ver, Bitcoin Evangelist and Angel Investor, CEO of Bitcoin.com
“… In terms of the price, I see no reason why it couldn’t keep going up for a long time. It has the brand name and if you talk to people on the street, no one outside the little bubble Cryptocurrency has never heard of the debates on the ladder or the fact that Bitcoin is no longer p2p money. They are buying on its past potential, name and enthusiasm for making money. And of course, as long as it retains its silver qualities, people want it More importantly, many of the sizing issues that could effectively limit the number of people who can be involved in BTC at any one time have been “resolved. By centralized services like PayPal, Cashapp and Exchanges.
I think there is going to be a growing demand for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Cash (BCH) that can actually handle massive traffic on the chain, especially with everything going on in the world. And when I talk to big investors, a lot of them start looking at Bitcoin and wondering “can it really make the same kind of gains it has in the past?” I think a lot of them doubt that the price is going up at the same rate and they are going to look for the next thing to invest in because there is little reason to hold Bitcoin unless the price is going up.
… Today, many influential developers and companies are unable or unwilling to see the indirect consequences of limiting the rate of Bitcoin. For example, a system in which fees will cost thousands of dollars on a large scale will have the long-term effect of centralizing funds on single addresses, which impairs privacy, and on exchanges, which impairs privacy. privacy and resistance to censorship … Likewise, in the effort to essentially put price controls on the cost of operating a complete node so that everyone can run one, the high fees that have limited the number of people who actually run one because they will not be able to afford to do chain transactions in the first place. You could actually end up with more nodes overall, even though they cost a lot more to operate if the fees were low so everyone could participate in the Bitcoin chain economic activity.
This is what people lack, that technical development decisions that seem smart in the short term (who doesn’t want cheaper prices ?!) have deep and damaging economic consequences that could take decades to materialize. . “
Adam Draper, co-founder and CEO of Boost VC
“My 1 BTC is always worth 1 BTC. It is this other currency, the US dollar, which keeps falling.
Ultimately, the value delivered to the end consumer is all that matters. If Alt-Coin season is coming, it’s because the value is starting to be real. BTC already has the store of value feature which is very useful (and) institutions flock to it.
Bitcoin has given us scarcity online. We are in the skeuomorphic phase. We are learning where replacing third-party trust with mathematical proof is useful. The opportunity is not to focus on technology, but to enable new financial products and provide access to value to the rest of the world. The emphasis is on decentralizing the Internet – choose there and you will find the greatest opportunities. I am excited about the unstoppable and other areas in this space. “
Eric Richmond – Chief Operating Officer & VP, Legal at Coinsquare
“I foresee a steady rise for Bitcoin. I predict there will be some fluctuations in the market and the price may drop back down to US $ 20,000 or less, but the overall trend line for the year will be positive.
People saw what happened in 2017 when they trusted projects that weren’t close to reality. There won’t be the same frenzy on as many projects as in 2017, but a few Altcoins will bloom in 2020 – especially those with real utility, like Ethereum.
Businesses, institutional investors, family offices, and hedge funds all want Bitcoin to diversify their portfolios. With so much demand for Bitcoin – both institutional and retail – the hype is justified. “
Regulation is the most important factor. In the long run, this will be positive for BTC, but there will be bumps in the road, like the recent FINCEN recommendations. “
Conclusion
If the incredible rise of Bitcoin sounds like 2017, the way experts talk about crypto has a palpable change in tone. The vision for decentralized global currency and transactions is consistent, but the reasons for retail and institutional investors to enter the crypto market are more to take advantage of a deflationary asset and less decentralization, autonomy. and privacy – and the goal of general adoption is much closer. on the horizon. White papers and use cases have become real users, and world events including the pandemic and the weakening US economy have only made Bitcoin more relevant.
Bitcoin is the flag leading the charge to the global general public. What remains to be seen is the adoption rate now that hardcore crypto enthusiasts must share their innovations with the world.
My thanks to everyone who participated. I’ll share more answers in a second installment of the article. – justin
* Header image by Three strokes of Pixabay
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