Recently, crypto-focused investment firm Pantera Capital held a conference call (about Bitcoin’s third halving), during which Jesse Powell, Co-Founder and CEO of crypto exchange Kraken, talked about Bitcoin.
Regarding the long term potential for the Bitcoin price, Powell said::
“Most people have heard about Bitcoin, but they don’t own any Bitcoin. They don’t know what the future of Bitcoin is. I think if everyone knew about Bitcoin and the potential of Bitcoin and how great it was, the price would be like a trillion dollars a Bitcoin. We would all just be switched over to Bitcoin and not be using anything else…”
“I think that there’s a lot that’s not priced in, even though it’s predictable, like what the future is.”
“Ten years down the road, the US dollar is going to continue to be printed like crazy. It’s going to be totally worthless. No one is going to want it. Everyone is going to want Bitcoin. But that’s not priced in because of perceived risks or perceived uncertainty about the future, about regulation, about how does the government respond in different situations as Bitcoin continues to develop, or how useful does it actually become.”
As for the medium term future, Powell expects the Bitcoin price to reach $100,000 within the next two years:
“I believe that we’re in a completely unprecedented time in terms of the global political and economic systems. I believe that this is going to continue to drive a pretty massive shift into digital currency. I think the next couple of years we’ll likely see 1 BTC exceed $100,000…
“Just anecdotally, in the last two months, we’ve seen a huge surge in new accounts, from institutions. I think, again, I mentioned it earlier, something that’s preventing more institutions from getting in is just the uncertainty around the regulatory situation.
“I think many are in a wait and see mode, many maybe trying to have their mandates changed to allow them to invest in these asset classes. But I do think it’s coming. I think that more LPs are going to demand that their GPs invest in crypto. I think it’s going to come from the bottom up. The returns are just so hard to ignore. It seems irresponsible not to have crypto be a piece of your portfolio.”
Powell believes the only thing holding Bitcoin back in the short term is that the current high level of uncertainly in the world is pushing many people towards what they know best, which is cash:
“In a time like this, with so much uncertainty, I think people are looking to what they know, which is cash. I’ve got to pay my rent in cash. I’ve got to buy my food and my toilet paper with cash.
“They’re not looking to hold a volatile asset, however a good investment it might be in the long term. People are thinking very short-term right now. I think that’s one thing working against Bitcoin.”
