A major institutional investor has made the claim that the entire bitcoin network could one day be worth over $6 trillion.
Bitcoin to Replace Gold
Speaking at a Sohn investment conference in New York, John Pfeffer, a partner at U.K.-based Pfeffer Capital, said that the cryptocurrency could replace gold. He also made the bullish claim that it could eventually be worth $700,000, reports the Independent.
“Bitcoin is the first viable candidate to replace gold the world has ever seen. So if bitcoin becomes the dominant non-sovereign store of value, it could be the new gold, or new reserve currency.”
In his opinion, most of the other cryptocurrencies on the market are just ‘bad bets.’ This is a notable remark from the investor as it’s the first time the topic of cryptocurrencies has been spoken about at Sohn, an environment where investors can learn about which stocks to put their money in.
It also comes at a time when the market is seeing increasing interest from hedge fund investors who are turning their attention to digital currencies. Earlier this week, it was reported that one in five financial institutions are planning to trade cryptocurrencies over the next 12 months.
Bitcoin is currently valued $8,831, with a market cap worth $150.1 billion. However, Pfeffer believes that the entire bitcoin network has the potential to rise even further, to $6.4 trillion, if it displaced 25 percent of foreign reserves. To illustrate his faith in where the currency is heading, Pfeffer donated 10 bitcoins to the Sohn Foundation, with the stipulation that the coins can’t be cashed in for five years, adding ‘buy the ticket, take the ride.’
Even though he highlighted that there are still risks associated with the market, unlike gold the value linked to them is more than a store of value. Pfeffer isn’t the only one who remains bullish on the currency, and comes hot on the heels of remarks from venture capitalist Tim Draper.
At the beginning of the week, Draper made the argument that the number one cryptocurrency would be bigger than Tesla, Skype, and Hotmail combined after he was questioned to compare bitcoin to his early investments. As a long-time advocate for bitcoin, Draper said during the Intelligence Squared U.S. debate that ‘this is bigger than the internet.’ He added that the digital currency will eventually win the ‘long-term crypto battle.’
Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, who would put ‘fresh money‘ into bitcoin over bitcoin cash, claims that the cryptocurrency will reach $25,000 by the end of the year and $55,000 by 2022.