Jan Van Eck, the CEO of major US-based investment firm VanEck, predicted that Bitcoin would reach at least half the market capitalization of Gold itself in the near future. He made these comments during a recent interview with Scott Melker. VanEck is one of the nine financial firms with a spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) in the United States and holds hundreds of millions of dollars worth of BTC in its coffers.
Mr. VanEck said:
“I say [Bitcoin will] eventually become at least half the market cap of Gold. So I think that takes another five or ten years. Our TradFi clients are still very confused by Bitcoin, and they don’t want to talk about it, but their clients make them talk about it. So, we have a long way to go. And also buying activities is not helpful. They want to buy it at the tops and then it’s going to go to zero at the bottom. And so they’re bad at allocating.”
Bitcoin to $400,000?
Gold’s current market capitalization is at around $15 trillion. This makes it the largest store of value worldwide and is slowly creeping upwards.
So, with a conservative estimate, the total market capitalization of the premier digital currency will be over $7 trillion if the CEO’s prediction comes true. The digital currency’s price index will shoot to around $400k in that scenario. This bullish cycle will be difficult to achieve, but the anticipated 2028 bull market could be a fair target.
The Rising Popularity of Bitcoin
Bitcoin is shooting up in popularity, especially in the USA, after the approval of the first Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in the country in January this year. VanEck was one of the nine firms that lobbied for ETF approval in the last couple of years, and they were finally successful. Its share is being traded under the ticker HODL on US stock exchanges.
Bitcoin vs Gold
Bitcoin is certainly more popular than Gold for many investors due to its major price upside potential, even with the volatility factored into the equation. However, gold is a major historical investment class and is likely to retain its importance with time, with Bitcoin playing catch-up for the time being.
However, the yellow metal will likely keep ceding ground to the premier cryptocurrency in the next decade or so before it becomes the ultimate competitor in the race to secure its status as the primary store of value.
