A number of respected financial analysts, both from traditional and new age paradigms, believe that Bitcoin is only just starting to gain mainstream attention and traction.
Bitcoin may have grabbed major headlines at the end of 2017 as it tipped the $20,000 mark but there seems to be newfound sentiment that the preeminent cryptocurrency is just at the beginning of true worldwide adoption.
After its record-breaking bullrun and subsequent, sobering price correction three years ago, Bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency space endured a long and slow period of recovery. Fast forward to 2020 and things have seemingly changed dramatically and it seems that Bitcoin is once again becoming the talk of the financial world.
A fortuitous result of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a drive towards new technology and online systems, as people slowly adapt to the ‘new normal’ around the world. With many businesses and services going digital, there is a big push for new ways to interact and transact with the world around us.
2020 has also seen the emergence and popularity of Decentralized Finance platforms and a number of nations expediting their research and development of Central Bank Digital Currencies.
Last but not least, a number of major corporations have let their actions do the talking in terms of their interest in Bitcoin with some high profile, multi-million dollar moves to acquire the cryptocurrency as a long term investment asset.
The result has the interest in Bitcoin soar to levels not last seen since those lofty highs of 2017 – and some prominent figures are tipping Bitcoin to have only entered its proverbial ‘first innings’.
Winklevoss, Tudor Jones, Novogratz
Three prominent names in the world of finance have given similar takes on the current interest in Bitcoin driven by various moves in the space.
Gemini cryptocurrency exchange cofounder Tyler Winklevoss made waves in August for an in-depth analytical piece that touted a future price of Bitcoin surpassing the $500,000 mark. Those sentiments were then reiterated alongside his twin brother Cameron in an interview with podcast host Peter McCormack.
“I would sort of contend that $500,000 Bitcoin is actually pretty conservative and the game hasn’t even really started,” Cameron Winklevoss said during the interview.
He also made mention of MicroStrategy’s $450mln investment in Bitcoin as a major holding in its treasury reserves as another reason why the cryptocurrency is set to become a lot more valuable in the coming years and decades.
“What if every Fortune 100 or 500 company does that, what if central banks start doing that? It hasn’t even started,” Cameron said.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones has also changed his tune towards Bitcoin, as he noted that the cryptocurrency is beginning to be recognized as an attractive asset to hedge against rising inflation.
Jones also believes that Bitcoin is as a similar stage to the early years of Google and Apple and that early investors could well benefit in the long run.
Last but not least, renowned investor and Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said that this week’s news that PayPal would begin offering cryptocurrency support on its platforms had been a proverbial gunshot in the world of traditional finance.
“I think that’s, in some ways, the shot heard around the world on Wall Street. PayPal has 346 million accounts, they’re the 30th biggest bank in the U.S. in deposits and all of a sudden every financial institution says, ‘Wait a minute, what am I doing?,” Novogratz said during an interview with CNBC’s Squawkbox TV show.
The investments themselves speak volumes of the sentiment towards Bitcoin – as hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested into the cryptocurrency by major companies. It seems that more and more mainstream companies and individuals are starting to put their money where their mouth is – and they’re washing that down with a tall glass of Bitcoin.