Bitcoin (BTC) is “a screaming buy right now” according to highly respected cryptocurrency hedge fund manager Dan Morehead, who is the founder and CEO of Pantera Capital. Even more interestingly, He claims that the currently $400 billion cryptocurrency market could be worth $40 trillion within 10 years.
In an interview on Bloomberg television on Thursday, Morehead was asked about the cryptocurrency market. He said that he found this market fascinating because “it’s a $400 billion market that nobody owns” and that because the large institutional investors haven’t really gotten involved yet, “the float is a lot smaller than you would otherwise see.”
Regading Bitcoin, he pointed out that Pantera had just issued only its third Buy recommendation in the last seven years, and went on to explain why they had recommended Bitcoin:
Bitcoin has come below its 200-day moving average and that is important because the currency has been going up at a 170% per annum for six years… if it ever goes down below its average, that means it's really come off… it's come off 65% since its highs and if you put a 100 bucks in each of the four times it's touched its 200-day moving average, you'd have a 285% return.
When the interviewer asked him if this mean that this was a good time to buy Bitcoin, he said that “it’s a screaming buy right now.”
He was then asked how big Bitcoin could become and if its price could reach 100 times what it is today. Morehead noted that Bitcoin, although the megacap of the crypto market, was one of many currencies, but that he agreed that the market as a whole could get much bigger:
The industry as a whole is $400 billion… easily could go to $4 trillion and $40 trillion is definitely possible… it's the 10 year forecast… it's not going to happen overnight.
When asked for a more short term prediction on the price of Bitcoin, Morehead replied that we could see, within the next 12 months, the kind of prices that were reached back in December of last year: “The market has already come back about 25% and I think within 12 months it will have new highs.”
Morehead also explained that although he was quite bullish towards BItcoin, it was only 10% of their crypto holdings and that their single largest position is Icon (ICX), which has been by many in the crypto space the “Korean Ethereum.”
Finally, Morehead explained why the financial establishment has been kind of reluctant in embracing cryptocurrencies so far:
So, early days, it was… Bitcoin was considered 'skanky'… now we have CME futures… Goldman is clearing it… State Street says they are gonna custody it… So, it's getting institutionalized… the very last bit is that there isn't yet a SEC-regulated custodian for cryptocurrencies… I think in the next 12 months someone will have solved that… Anything that is a $400 billion asset will not be ignored for long.
