BITCOIN is on track to rise to $ 500,000 over the next 10 years and surpass gold as a store of value, according to billionaire twins Winklevoss.
The cryptocurrency price hit an all-time high of $ 19,864 on Monday, breaking its previous record just before Christmas 2017.
The world’s first fully virtual currency has gained over 170% in value since the start of the year.
He was helped by online payment giant PayPal, saying it would allow account holders to use the currency.
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who became cryptocurrency’s first billionaires, have now predicted that Bitcoin will “shut down” gold over the next decade.
“#Bitcoin is an emerging store of value that defends against inflation and has the potential to oust gold,” Cameron tweeted Monday morning.
“That means it could appreciate 25 times in value from $ 19,000.
“No other liquid asset in the universe can credibly offer this magnitude of asymmetric gain over the next decade.”
Speaking on CNBC, Tyler said, “Our thesis is that Bitcoin is gold 2.0, which will stop gold, and if it does, it must have a market cap of 9 trillion, so we think it could cost $ 500,000 one day. Bitcoin. “
He added: “So at $ 18,000 Bitcoin, it’s a hold or at least if you don’t have any, it’s a buying opportunity because we think there’s a 25x from here.”
After hitting an all-time high on Monday, the cryptocurrency subsequently dropped to $ 19,238.86.
The debate on the state of the digital asset, launched in January 2009, on whether it should be seen as a form of money, a good or a commodity, has ignited.
“Digital gold” has risen about 40% since October, after hitting just $ 5,000 in March.
“The time for Bitcoin has come,” said Guy Hirsch, chief executive for the United States at the eToro trading platform, citing institutional involvement as a key reason for the latest progress.
What is Bitcoin?
BITCOIN became the world’s first fully virtual currency when it was introduced in January 2009.
Users cannot carry coins or banknotes and its value only appears as a number on a screen.
It was created by an obscure online account called Satoshi Nakamoto.
The new currency is created through a complex online process called mining that uses supercomputers to create new Bitcoins using complex computer code.
In its early days, Bitcoin proved to be relatively useless, with an infamous example of an early pioneer paying for a pizza using two bitcoins.
At its peak that pizza would be worth the equivalent of £ 15,000.
The most common way to buy the currency is to download a broker app like Coinbase and Blockchain.
These allow users to use a credit or debit card to exchange pounds for Bitcoin.
Users don’t have to buy whole Bitcoins and can buy a small percentage that matches the value of their cash investment.
Once the request is made, the online “miners” will decide whether to approve the transaction.
If approved, the money will be withdrawn from a user’s account in exchange for Bitcoin.
During the sale, users can use the same app to sell their Bitcoin in exchange for its cash value.
“This rally could still have a long way to go.”
PayPal said the new service will allow customers to buy, hold and sell units of cryptocurrency and use them for in-store payments.
Several central banks have responded to the rise in cryptocurrencies and the decline in global use of cash by announcing plans for bank-backed digital units that would be “risk-free.”
Unregulated by any central bank, Bitcoin has emerged as an attractive option for investors with an appetite for the exotic, although criminals have also seen its appeal under the radar.
After the unit first crossed $ 1,000 in 2013, it began to attract more and more attention from financial institutions.
Last week it emerged that hedge fund Guggenheim Partners is considering allocating around $ 530 million for a bitcoin investment via a private investment vehicle.
It comes as gold slid to a five-month low Monday and was on track for its worst month in four years, as optimism about a rapid vaccine-fueled economic recovery dented the allure of safe havens.
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