A Bitcoin bull and billionaire investor, Tim Draper, is convinced that the cryptocurrency market will reach $80 trillion in just 15 years. This optimistic belief was made despite the fact that, at present, the crypto market cap has barely reached $200 billion.
The Growth of Cryptocurrency – Similar to the Internet
Speaking via video call at the DealStreetAsia PE-VC Summit in Singapore on September 12, Draper compared the evolution of cryptocurrency with that of the internet. In making the comparison, he stated: “The internet started in the same way, it came in big waves and then it kind of came crashing down, and then the next wave comes concentrated but much bigger, and I suspect the same thing will go on here (with bitcoin).”
In truth, the evolution of cryptocurrency prices somehow emulates that of internet companies during the 1990s and early 2000s. They experienced a boom during the last few years, peaking with a top value of $300 billion in December 2017. Afterwards, prices started to drop, influenced, among others, by ongoing debates among regulatory bodies whether cryptocurrencies can be treated as financial assets.
However, Tim Draper is undeterred by the slowing down market trend. Back in April, he expressed his opinion that Bitcoin will reach the value of $250,000 by 2022.
Fiat Currencies Will Be Out of Use
Tim Draper expressed yet another bold opinion earlier this year – that within a decade fiat currencies will be out of use, being replaced by cryptocurrencies. He believes that as an increasing number of people understand blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, the industries across the globe will experience a tremendous transformation.
Returning to Draper’s video speech at the DealStreet Asia Summit, he explained that the slowdown the cryptocurrency market experiences at the present is due to the fact that people are not accustomed to this new type of currency, although they see its potential.
“I think it’s going to have such a transformative effect on industries that we never even imagined would be transformable. The internet went after industries that were $10-100 billion dollar markets, cryptocurrency will go after trillion dollar markets – these are finance, healthcare and insurance, banking and investment banking, and governments,” said Draper.
A Good Track Record for Predictions
Tim Draper built his reputation as a key investor in innovative companies such as Tesla, Skype and Baidu Inc. His venture capital firm Draper Associates backed peer-to-peer lending company UangTeman and is expected to take part in the Series B round for the Indonesian-based startup later this year.
A long-term supporter of cryptocurrencies, and of Bitcoin in particular, Draper has made supportive statements in favour of the cryptocurrency market which came true and even exceeded his optimistic expectations. For instance, in 2015 Tim Draper announced he believed Bitcoin will reach the value of US$10,000 by the end of 2018. In reality, the price of the most popular cryptocurrency reached almost $20,000.
