Bitcoin (BTC)’s market cap could flip that of gold within two years, thus bringing its price up to $700,000 per coin.
That’s according to Blockstream CEO Adam Back – a “Bitcoin OG” and one of the internet’s popular suspects for being Bitcoin’s anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
“Digital gold, bitcoin, will surely flip physical gold sooner or later; and probably this halving cycle. so within a year or two,” said the developer in an X post on Sunday.
digital gold #bitcoin will surely flip physical gold sooner or later; and probably this halving cycle. so within a year or two. currently it’d take $700k/BTC but it maybe partially a substitute (some people start selling gold to buy #bitcoin crossing the market caps below that).
— Adam Back (@adam3us) December 4, 2023
“Digital gold” is a nickname meant to highlight Bitcoin’s many parallels with the premiere precious metal, which served as humanity’s money of choice for thousands of years.
While both are reliably scarce assets, BTC boasts all of the benefits of digitization including portability, divisibility, and minimal storage costs/ auditing costs. These factors have led many investors to believe that Bitcoin could one day overtake gold as a store of value, as investors in the latter trade in their holdings for the former.
“Currently it’d take $700k/BTC but it may be partially a substitute (some people start selling gold to buy #bitcoin crossing the market caps below that),” explained Back.
Back clarified that his prediction applies to any point within Bitcoin’s next halving cycle, which begins in April 2024. Back in August, he predicted that the asset could reach $100,000 before that date.
On Monday, Bitcoin surged to a 19-month high of 42,300 while gold touched a new all-time high at $2,143 per ounce – though the latter has already lost its daily gains.
Does Anyone Agree With $700k Per Coin?
Though rare, a few popular Bitcoin bulls have posted equally bullish BTC price targets in recent months.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, for example, has predicted that Bitcoin could rise to $1 million per coin by 2026 during a hyperinflationary period for all scarce assets. Meanwhile, ex-Blockstream CTO Samson Mow believes BTC could rise to $1 million within weeks of a Bitcoin spot ETF being approved.
Outside of the Bitcoin community itself, investment analysts have offered more modest but still relatively bullish outlooks. Last month, Standard Chartered reiterated its $120,000 BTC price target by the end of 2024.
Bernstein has estimated that Bitcoin could reach $150,000 by mid-2025, due to Bitcoin ETF approval and supply constraints after the halving.
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