The year started with a bang for all cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin.
The benchmark cryptocurrency rose from $29,000 at the beginning of 2021 to as much as $58,500 on Sunday — more than double in just three months. Its meteoric rise came as a part of a broader upside trend that began in March last year in the wake of loose central banking policies and expansive government spendings to cushion the impact of coronavirus.
Bitcoin’s growth as a global asset prompted interesting predictions from a flurry of mainstream financial experts. Here are the top 5 BTC price development predictions for 2021.
1. ARK Invest: $400,000 and More
ARK Invest is a New York-based investment company that manages over $50 billion in assets.
Its CEO Cathie Wood has voiced a strong opinion on Bitcoin on multiple occasions. Most recently, in an interview with CNBC, she expressed her certainty about a bullish bitcoin scenario, stating that if all US corporations were to put as much as 5-10% of their cash into Bitcoin, its prices would rocket to $200,000.
Considering corporations from the rest of the world and possible higher investments from US companies, the price could go up to $400,000 and higher. She is optimistic about incorporating Bitcoin in the mainstream market and the subsequent rise in value.
2. Guggenheim’s Scott Minerd: $400,000
Scott Minerd, the chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners — a firm that manages $250 billion worth of assets under management, expects Bitcoin to hit $400,000. He cites the cryptocurrency’s underlying scarcity as one of the primary reasons behind his bullish call.
In retrospect, Bitcoin has a limited supply cap of 21 million tokens. A pre-programmed algorithm with the cryptocurrency’s source code reduced its supply by half every four years. Meanwhiles, as its demand rises against a depleting stock, its value per dollar rises.
When Mr. Minerd called for a $400,00 Bitcoin, it was December 2020, a time when BTC/USD was around $20,000.
3. Bobbly Lee, the Founder/CEO of Ballet Company and BTC China: $100,000 by Summer 2021
Bobbly Lee sees the bitcoin price at $100,000 as early as summer 2021. He also says the cryptocurrency could triple by the end of 2021, reaching $300,000.
In a recent interview with CNBC, Bobby Lee called 2021 a ‘bull market year’ for bitcoin. He stated that the bull market year comes around every 3-4 years over the course of bitcoin’s history since its launch in 2009. If history is any indication, this will happen again in 2021, and the prices will go up significantly, reaching up to $300,000.
When bitcoin does reach 300,000, the price could go down as much as 80-90%, as the digital coin is highly volatile. The “bitcoin winter” could last for years. But the CEO stated that bitcoin rewards are “risk-adjusted” after all.
4. Dan Tapiero: $300,000-500,000 By the End of 2021
Dan Tapiero is the co-founder of Gold Bullion International in 2009, and 10T in 2019. He stated, that he can see the potential price for BTC go as high as $300,000-500,000. While it’s a good idea for investors to own both gold and bitcoin, he is certain that investment in bitcoin will prove to be much more rewarding.
The analyst based his opinion on bitcoin being a hedge against the devaluation of fiat currency. He sees a major flow of capital into the crypto-market and a subsequent rise in value.
5. Tim Draper: Bitcoin at $250,000
Tim Draper is a venture capitalist with a net worth of over $1 billion, known for backing Skype and Tesla in the early stages. The investor stated that the bitcoin price could rise up to $250,000 by the end of 2022. Mr. Draper based his prediction on the bitcoin halving, which happens after a 210,000 bitcoin block is mined, or in other words, approximately every 4 years. The halving has historically led to a rise in the bitcoin price every time.
Mr. Draper remains confident in his prediction and backed it up again in April 2020.
All the predictions listed above are not to be viewed as concrete proof of investment security. They are opinions based on market research and years of experience. Investing still does contain risks, as the future of bitcoin is hard to predict at this point. However, the growing inclusion of bitcoin into the mainstream market suggests that the growing interest from corporations and institutional investors will continue on that course at least for the next year for sure.
