Daniel Ameduri, a self-made millionaire, president of Future Money Trends LLC., and proclaimed trend forecaster with an interest in both cryptocurrencies and gold, shares his thoughts on the two assets as they stand today.
Darryn Pollock, a Forbes contributor, has a sit down with Daniel Ameduri, a self-made millionaire with an interest in both cryptocurrencies and gold, where they discuss the future of Bitcoin, and wether investors should stay with cryptocurrencies, or turn to gold once again.
Read more: Is Bitcoin at $1 million really possible?
Ameduri explains that he was first introduced to Bitcoin when its price was at $1.
'This is what first attracted me to the industry. I went to a crypto-conference in 2011, and there was probably 300 people there, not a single one was trying to make money, they just wanted to build this unbelievably alternative to the financial markets.'
'That same enthusiasm is so much stronger today, those people are still out there today, but they are out there in the hundreds of thousands, and I think the state of the market now is that you have two fronts - the blockchain which is being implemented by companies like IBM, which is going to change everything for everybody when it comes to the integrity of our transactions and lower cost fees.'
The second front, according to Ameduri, is the price of crypto.
Bitcoin can go upwards of $100,000
The president of Future Money Trends, adds that of course everyone wants to know when crypto is going to have its next big move.
'I think it will be another year, just because it had such a significant move and I don’t think we are going to go into a mania for a year or two years, maybe more. It still needs to sort out its high transaction costs and slow transaction dealings right now.'
'It is still very early, in the building phase. I would say we are internet and email 1990 / 1991 / 1992, still very early for crypto', he says.
'I see Bitcoin over the next five years… because there are only 17 million outstanding and if you look at it as a penny stock, there is so much demand for it - so I would say - although hard to make a price prediction because it is speculative - but upwards of $100,000 is possible because there are only 17 million that are trading.'
Read more: 10 times Bitcoin was declared dead… and survived
Bitcoin will be used as a store of value, especially by the super rich
Ameduri thinks that the appeal of Bitcoin is that it is outside of the current banking system and outside of the government's hands.
'I think it will be used as a store of value, especially for the super rich. I don't think Bitcoin is going to be used in Starbucks, or day to day transaction, I believe the blockchain might be implemented by Visa and Mastercard, but I don't think people are going to change their habits.'
'The fact of the matter is, even though Bitcoin is providing a solution for the ultra concerned about their privacy and accessibility to their money, 99% of the people out there swipe their card and go to Starbucks and they have no problems.'
5 to 10% of your portfolio should be precious metals
'Everyone says it, but nobody does it. Do it! right now', the self-made millionaire says.
'Gold is in a very good position for people who are just wanting to protect themselves and have a little money outside of the banking system. Physical gold is a great store of value; the Russian Central Banks are buying it, major institutions are getting involved.'
According to Ameduri, China is the number one gold producer, and not a single ounce is exported.
'In fact', he says, 'they are the largest creator of gold, largest producer of gold, and the largest importer of gold, same goes for silver, they are probably number two for silver, but they are the largest importer and not an ounce leaves their shores.'