Tim Draper: “Bitcoin will grow more than 25-fold by 2022”

Bitcoin to hit $250,000 by 2022? Investor Tim Draper thinks that is a conservative prediction. “$250,000 means that bitcoin would then have about a 5% market share of the currency world and I think that may be understating the power of bitcoin.” The venture capitalist said he may have underestimated bitcoin when he previously predicted it will reach $250,000 – a figure he first forecast when bitcoin was worth around $5,000 in 2018. A remarkable resurgence in 2019 means bitcoin is currently trading at just above $10,000, though it remains a long way off its record high from December 2017 of nearly $20,000.

Speaking to cryptocurrency news show Blocktv, Draper said his previous price predictions had come true and that his latest one may even fall short of bitcoin’s eventual value. “As it becomes easier for people to use… they’re going to make the decision that they like bitcoin better than any fiat because they know that their fiat will depreciate in value.” Draper’s forecast places bitcoin firmly in the league of assets like gold with market caps in the trillions of dollars range. Tim Draper made a name for himself through traditional investments in companies like Skype, Tesla and Twitch, but has since turned his attentions to bitcoin.

In 2014, he purchased 30,000 bitcoins that had been seized from criminals by the US Marshals, which were worth around $21 million at the time. At today’s rates, they are worth more than $300 million.

Other financial analysts have also predicted that the price of bitcoin is set to increase, though their market projections have been far more modest. BTCC founder Bobby Lee believes the bitcoin price could reach $200,000 “in a very short time.” According to Lee, bitcoin hitting $20,000 again will be the trigger for an even greater parabolic advance that would see the BTC all-time high (ATH) price entering a new order of magnitude.

Nigel Green, the CEO of financial consultancy firm DeVere Group said that bitcoin’s price will be boosted by the US Federal Reserve, which is expected to cut interest rates by around a quarter of a per cent this week. “This is because an interest rate cut reduces the incentive to keep the fiat currency. In addition, rate cuts typically lead to higher inflation, which reduces the purchasing power of traditional currencies, therefore making cryptocurrencies more attractive.” Bitcoin price predictions range from $1 million to next to nothing.

In August, Green predicted that geopolitical instability would see bitcoin hit $15,000, as bitcoin was becoming a “flight-to safety” asset during times of market uncertainty. Nigel Green is joined by several other industry figures in predicting short-term gains, with some pointing to the record bitcoin mining rates in recent days acting as a key metric towards future gains.