Jesse Powell, the CEO of the US-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, believes that Bitcoin will eventually become the “world’s currency”. In an interview with Bloomberg, Powell, who has reasons to be bullish on Bitcoin, projected a disruptive future for the crypto but it would stretch the imagination of even the most ardent crypto fans.
Powell said Bitcoin has the potential to reach $1 million in the next decade, adding that supporters say it could eventually go all the way and replace all of the major fiat currencies.
“I think a million-dollar price target within the next ten years is very reasonable. We can only speculate, but when you measure it in terms of dollars, you have to think it’s going to infinity,” he said. “The true believers will tell you that it’s going all the way to the moon, to Mars and eventually, will be the world’s currency.”
In the rollercoaster world of Bitcoin, extreme predictions are nothing new. Supporters of the crypto stand to profit from convincing a wider audience that the currency is a legitimate asset class, rather than a speculative fad. The world’s reserve currency is still the US dollar, and it is the benchmark for global trade, though its value has softened in the past year.
He added that national currencies were “already showing extreme signs of weakness” and that consumers would soon start measuring the price of things in bitcoin.
Powell also talked about how Bitcoin bulls see it one day exceeding the combined market cap of the dollar and euro among other currencies.
The dollar “is only 50 years old and it’s already showing extreme signs of weakness, and I think people will start measuring the price of things in terms of Bitcoin,” he said.
The CEO also said that possibly next year, the San Francisco-based Kraken is considering going public.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency slipped 3% in early U.S. trading on Thursday, hovering around $49,000. Since the start of 2020, prices have surged almost 600% on the back of wider mainstream adoption, with bulls seeing it as both an inflation hedge and speculative asset.
However, critics of the crypto argue that it is still in a giant, stimulus-fueled bubble destined to burst like the 2017 boom and bust cycle.
Kraken, as a crypto-exchange, reaps fees from increased trading and benefits from higher prices. Bloomberg reported last month that the exchange was in talks to raise new funding, which would see the company’s valuation doubling to more than $10 billion.
“Personally, I think $10 billion is a low valuation,” Powell said. “I wouldn’t be interested in selling shares at that price.”
The CEO did acknowledge the potential for wild market swings, saying prices can “move up or down 50% on any given day.” That kind of volatility has long been one of the negatives of Bitcoin, relegating the market to one of speculation, rather than a means of doing business.
“If you are buying into Bitcoin out of speculation, you should be committed to holding for five years,” Powell said. “You have to have strong convictions to hold.”
