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As bitcoin makes its way into the mainstream as part of a fully diversified portfolio, one has to wonder: what will bitcoin’s price be in 2050?
With a current market capitalization of nearly 300 billion dollars as of June 2020, bitcoin now dominates the cryptocurrency space, controlling a whopping 64% of the entire market. As such, it’s safe to say that bitcoin is the number one digital currency in circulation.
Given its popularity and interest, both traders and investors have flocked to the liquid coin, seeking to make both short and long-term preditions. However, while traders look for short-term swings, long-term investors thinking about their retirement portfolio look at the bitcoin price prediction for 2050.
Despite some criticisms that bitcoin has faced from dinosaur business titans like Warren Buffett, it continues to make headway all over the world. Indeed, with its limited supply, high demand and continual surge as a means for payment, bitcoin has proven to be a promising store of value and medium of exchange.
In fact, many “pro-bitcoiners” often store bitcoin in anticipation of the price going up in dollar terms.
On December 16, 2017, the price of Bitcoin surged to $19,665.39 ($20,000) – the current all-time high for the cryptocurrency. The following year, bitcoin plunged over 70%, falling to a low of about $3,250. Fast forward to 2019, and bitcoin peaked at nearly $14,000. This year, bitcoin has fluctuated between $3,900 and $11,400, after having gone through the fast dip in history.
Clearly, bitcoin has gone through a lot and is here to stay. The question is: where will bitcoin be in the next 30 years in 2050? Let’s find out.
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What Do Onlookers Have to Say?
Several “pro-bitcoiners” have made a variety of bitcoin price predictions over the years, many of which are self-serving short-term predictions.
However, others have dared to consider bitcoin’s future on a longer time-frame. Mark Yusko – who is well known for founding Morgan Creek Capital – is one of those in the crypto space to make a long-term prediction. In fact, he predicts that bitcoin would be over $400,000 in the long-term; and bases this price prediction on the available bitcoin and the equivalence of the digital currency to gold.
Another prominent crypto figure, John Pfeiffer – a partner at Pfeiffer Capital based out in London – has also made a long-term prediction. His expectation for bitcoin is that its value will be $700,000 in the long-term. This prediction implies that Bitcoin would increase about 74 times its current price. While many might retract in disbelief at this bold prediction, it is good to remember that bitcoin went from $900 to $20,000 in 2017 – about 22 times higher.
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Putting this event into consideration, a long-term prediction of $700,000 would not be far-fetched. Private investors often hold Gold as a means of keeping their money in something more dependable than the intrinsically worthless fiat. He believes that investors could ditch their privately held Gold for Bitcoin, seen as it is much easier to store and much more secure; instead of keeping Gold bars buried in their backyards or safe boxes.
What Do We Think?
Notwithstanding the criticisms from magnates like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, Bitcoin has continued to prove that it is here to stay. Some criticisms may be a result of its threat to banks and financial authorities. Since transactions are on a Blockchain, the need for banks, middle-men, or central authorities become obsolete.
In fact, there are two main motives for holding Bitcoin: transaction motive and speculative motive, those who hold to exchange for goods and services, and those who hold to make a profit. The security, transparency, and anonymity of Bitcoin makes it a preferred payment option for several individuals across the globe. More and more businesses around the world, both online and offline, have started including Bitcoin in their payment options. It, therefore, appears to us that Bitcoin is undoubtedly here to stay. There are currently 18,441,075 Bitcoins in circulation, and the total supply cap is 21,000,000. As such, only 2,558,925 more Bitcoins could ever be mined, for supply.
Considering the limited available supply, a rise in its demand, and a possibility for bitcoin to replace gold , we predict one bitcoin would be worth north of $500,000 by 2050. All things being equal, by 2140, all 21,000,000 bitcoins should be in circulation. The current market cap for gold is $9 trillion. About 80% of bitcoin are in circulation, with the last 20% mined for supply over the next 120 years; it has the power to replace Gold to have a market cap of over $10 trillion by 2050. If you do the math, assuming there would be about 20 million Bitcoins in supply, that gives us a Bitcoin price of about $500,000. With a limited available supply and a high demand, we predict Bitcoin’s price to be over $500,000 by 2050.
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Putting it all together
Bitcoin appears to be a perfect alternative currency to fiat, a store of value that is independent of the influence of the government or financial institutions. While nobody can predict bitcoin’s price with absolute certainty, it ‘s conceivable that bitcoin would eventually become the world’s default currency given its unique properties.