Kay Van-Petersen, an analyst at Saxo Bank, told CNBC that Bitcoin price could hit $100,000 in the next 10 years.
Cointelegraph previously reported that the daily trading volume of the cryptocurrency market was nearing that of major stock markets. However, the cryptocurrency market’s trading volume is still only a fraction of leading stock markets such as NASDAQ.
In order for the cryptocurrency market to surpass the trading volumes of major stock markets, it has to surpass a trillion dollar market cap. In an interview with CNBC, Van-Petersen stated that Bitcoin alone will most likely achieve a trillion dollar market cap in the next 10 years and a price of $100,000.
More to that, Van-Petersen predicted the daily trading volume of the cryptocurrency market to account for at least 10 percent of the average daily volumes of fiat currency trades which is a $500 bln trading volume.
Milestone
Currently, the daily trading volume of the cryptocurrency market is around $4.3 bln and for it to surpass 10 percent of the daily volumes of fiat currency trades, it needs to increase by a factor of 100. Considering Bitcoin and Ethereum’s exponential growth over the past few years, it is not entirely impossible for the cryptocurrency market to achieve such a milestone in the next 10 years.
Van-Petersen, who is also a Bitcoin investor, told CNBC:
"This is not a fad, cryptocurrencies are here to stay. There will emerge two to three main ones. Bitcoin will be one of those. And the reason is the first-mover advantage, the scale and the pioneering."
Van-Petersen also emphasized that Bitcoin is being used as a digital currency in remote parts of the world in countries which lack a stable monetary system and financial networks. In countries such as Venezuela, Bitcoin is a lifeline for citizens who are struggling to finance day-to-day operations.
Volatility
Leading economies such as Japan are also rapidly adopting Bitcoin as a digital currency, with some of its largest conglomerates accepting Bitcoin as payment. Most recently, Japan’s most popular budget airline Peach and largest electronics retailer Bic Camera began to accept Bitcoin as an official payment method.
Van-Petersen says:
"Volumes are going up, volatility is going down. A lot of people talk about the volatility, but if you are in Zimbabwe or Venezuela, this volatility is nothing. This is the interesting thing to me. I think in the West, a lot of people view it is as speculative, but emerging markets will get it, their needs will be different.”
Ultimately, Van-Petersen sees the market cap of Bitcoin rising to $1.75 trillion in the next 10 years. For this to happen, Bitcoin needs to mature as a technology, solve all of its scaling issues and become adopted as a digital currency and digital cash system, instead of a safe haven asset and long-term investment.