The bitcoin price may be perched below $9,000 now but many market leaders can see the forest from the trees. Billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper is among them and is not backing down from his $250,000 bitcoin price target. This time, however, Draper is giving the BTC price until 2023 to balloon to this level, adding it will be fueled by payments and pointing to second-layer payment protocol Lightning Network. Bitcoin’s other use case, of course, is as a store of value, in which it continues to take market share from rival gold.
Draper was a featured speaker at the recent Malta AI Blockchain summit and reportedly stated:
“It’s because of Lightning Network and OpenNode and maybe others that are allowing us to spend Bitcoin very freely and quickly, so that it’s not just a store of value but it can be used for micropayments; it can be used for retail, it can be used all over.”
Indeed, the Lightning Network has set the stage for crypto microtransactions. As a result, market participants paint a world in which bitcoin can be used for everyday purchases such as buying a cup of coffee without having to wait 10 minutes at the point-of-sale for the transaction to be completed on the network. Starbucks’ partnership with BTC futures exchange Bakkt is said to be a key part of the bitcoin payment puzzle, with the companies targeting 2020 for coffee purchases with the leading cryptocurrency.
Draper may have tweaked his time horizon on bitcoin’s ascent to $250,000 but has not loosened his grip on the aggressive price outlook.
If Draper were the only bitcoin bull with such a massive price prediction, it would be one thing. But market leaders continue to toss around the $1 million price level as though it is within grasp.
Blockchain pioneer Bobby Lee, who is the brother of Litcoin creator Charlie Lee, has attached a $1 million price target on the BTC price in less than a decade. Lee believes it will be fueled by bitcoin’s role as a store of value as it jockeys for position with rival store-of-value, precious metal gold.
Bitcoin and altcoin trend forecaster Marius suggests that bitcoin’s run to $1 million will be accompanied by “super hyperinflation,” making the volatility that the market has experienced lately seem like a drop in the bucket compared to what’s to come.
Source: Twitter
Institutional Role
Institutional investors are looked to as a major catalyst for the bitcoin price. Exchanges such as Bakkt are expected to custody the assets of big investors, giving them the security of a regulated trading platform that they have come to expect.
Meanwhile, CoinShares on Nov. 12 unveiled its latest research report, which points to some of the key trends in crypto over the coming years. CoinShares Chief Strategy Officer Meltem Demirors points to the shift from consumers to institutions. She describes it in three waves, the first of which was dedicated to the consumer from 2013-2017 powered by:
- “Exchanges and wallets”
- “Payment processors”
- “Self-custody solutions”
The next wave is institutions, led by:
- “Institutional exchanges”
- “Institutional custodians”
- “Lending markets”
- “Derivatives and options”
As crypto analyst Willy Woo points out, big investors are hunting liquidity first and foremost, and it’s bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies that are likely to win the race.