Although Bitcoin continues to languish under the $10,000 mark this morning, one notable investor is in it for the long haul, and unabashedly excited about the prospects for the coin’s value increases over the next three years.
Jordan Lyanchev at Cryptopotato reports comments by Tim Draper on CNBC’s “Squawk Alley,” where Draper noted he has divested himself of traditional market holdings and put most of his money into Bitcoin. Draper’s not the only voice trumpeting the future rise of BTC, but he’s one of the loudest.
“Bitcoin will be the currency of choice,” Draper said, while predicting BTC’s rise to $250,000 by 2023, according to BBs reporting. “Bitcoin is not as easy to move around, but eventually, it will be. Then you will have a choice, and you will say: “hey, do I want to pay the banks 2.5% to 4% every time I swipe my credit card or do I want a currency that’s frictionless, open, transparent, global, and not tied to any political force.”
Draper reportedly described the warning signs of an overheated market to CNBC this way:
“The market got too excited. Uber drivers were doing day trading. All the signs were there. I think it was time.”
In addition to Draper’s public comments, there are many reasons for traders to shun the traditional stock market, at least temporarily. Some of them have to do with trade uncertainty as the markets keep rolling from capricious escalations by Trump and the Chinese government. American farmers are in turmoil, getting checks instead of export markets. Speculative equity activity makes things unclear. Volatility is always waiting in the wings.
By contrast, Draper seems to believe wholeheartedly that Bitcoin is going to eventually take hold as an easy way to use money or value without outside fees.
Then there’s Warren Buffett, who has held forth against Bitcoin, saying that it has no value. Draper’s comments reveal he thinks that’s based on self-preservation, according to Buffett’s vast banking holdings.
“50% of his holdings are banks and insurance companies. They are not going to do well in this new decentralized economy. Of course, he’s not going to like it. He sees a huge threat to his holdings,” Draper reportedly said of Buffett. “Clearly, he’s not going to want this new currency, that everyone who has studied it knows it’s so much better than what we have out there.”
However, others bring a different analysis based on Buffett’s years of deliberate investment that have brought him to his current pinnacle.
“Warren has consistently encouraged a cautious investing strategy, completely opposite the ideas found in the cryptocurrency space,” writes Matt Sokol at Medium – positing that it’s this inherent caution that has led Buffett to speak out against a segment of the market where even the biggest proponents agree that volatility thrives.
Some of these competing ideas accurately show the short and long term pros and cons of getting into BTC. Do the research – and make your own decisions based on markets.
