Tim Draper, founder of Draper Associates and Billionaire venture capitalist, recently shared his thoughts on Bitcoin and the flagship crypto token’s potential to revolutionize the global economy. Specifically, Draper highlighted how BTC could replace the Dollar and other fiat currencies soon enough.
BTC To Replace The US Dollar
Draper mentioned during an interview on Bloomberg that the time is coming when people “won’t want the Dollars” anymore. He believes this would happen as a result of everyone having a preference for the flagship crypto token. When that happens, the billionaire says that he will be able to his “food, clothing, and shelter all in Bitcoin.”
Draper suggested that this revolution was going to occur from a massive bank run, similar to what occurred with the Confederate dollar after the US Civil War ended in 1864. He also likened Bitcoin potentially replacing the Dollar to what happened with the Greek Drachma and the run on the French Franc after France adopted the Euro.
Meanwhile, the billionaire alluded to how BTC already has an edge over some fiat currencies. He gave an example of how Argentines and Nigerians don’t trust the Peso and Naira, respectively and would rather prefer to do business in Bitcoin.
Bitcoinist previously reported how Bitcoin hit an all-time high in Argentina and Nigeria. The inflationary pressure that those countries are experiencing has caused their currencies to devalue, with locals seeing Bitcoin as the go-to alternative to hedge against this inflation. With the US also facing its economic crisis, Draper’s prediction of Bitcoin replacing the Dollar may not be far from happening.
Why Bitcoin Didn’t Rise To $250,000 In 2022
During the interview, Tim Draper also explained why his Bitcoin prediction of $250,000 didn’t happen. The billionaire had in 2018 predicted that the crypto token was going to rise to that price level by 2022. Draper looked to have blamed the US government for this not happening, stating that he didn’t expect them to have been “paranoid” about Bitcoin.
This paranoia is probably why the government has its reservations about the flagship crypto token rather than accepting it and taxing profits made on it, just like Draper expected. However, this paranoia looks to be in the past as the billionaire claims that the US has realized that “Bitcoin is actually better for everyone.”
Interestingly, Draper is not backing down on his $250,000 prediction, stating now that Bitcoin will hit this price level in 2025. His confidence might come from the fact that BTC looks to be more accepted by the US authorities, especially following the approval of the Spot Bitcoin ETFs, which are recoding huge demand.
Billionaire Tim Draper has predicted a new all-time high for Bitcoin, foreseeing a staggering $250,000 rise for the cryptocurrency in 2024.
Bitcoin To Reach $250,000
In a recent exclusive interview with Coin Bureau, a crypto informational portal, American venture capital investor, Tim Draper and Co-founder and CEO of Real Vision, Raoul Paul shared compelling insights on the outlook of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the space.
During the engaging conversation, Draper expressed highly bullish sentiments regarding Bitcoin’s future trajectory. When asked about his thoughts on Bitcoin’s price prediction, Draper confidently stated that BTC is poised to reach $250,000 soon. He hinted at the possibility of that surge happening in 2024, due to the present bullish trend on Bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies.
Draper, known for his success in Bitcoin investments also revisited a past Bitcoin projection he made. He stated that he had foreseen Bitcoin reaching $10,000 in three years and true to his foresight, the cryptocurrency achieved the milestone.
“I would say that my number $250,000 will probably come pretty soon, so I’ll stick with $250,000. I think that if it hits $250,000, it’ll go way past it,” Draper stated.
While addressing his $250,000 BTC forecast, Draper also mentioned a prior prediction where he anticipated the price of Bitcoin reaching $250,000 when its value was at $4,000. Despite the non-fulfillment of this particular prediction, Draper hinted at the possibility that the United States’ archaic approach towards cryptocurrencies may be stifling innovation and growth.
“When I predicted that, what I didn’t expect was how fearful and just old thinking the US would be. I think with a receptive US, we would be having conversations like the ones I have with the people from El Salvador,” Draper stated.
Presently, El Salvador is one of the few countries that has accepted Bitcoin as a legal tender. The country became the first to make Bitcoin a legal tender in September 2021, allowing its citizens to utilize BTC as a legal form of payment.
Draper Unveils Stablecoins Crucial Role In Shaping BTC
During the interview, Draper highlighted the role of stablecoins in the crypto space. The billionaire asserted that stablecoins could serve as a valuable support mechanism for BTC due to its price stability and seamless portability.
“The role of stablecoins, I think, will be a bridge to bitcoin. I think the way stablecoins will operate, they will be viable as long as the dollar is viable, and then when there’s a run on the dollar, people will move to Bitcoin,” Draper stated.
The billionaire also expressed a particular interest in smart contracts, highlighting its diverse use cases. He discussed the transformative impacts Bitcoin could bring into the financial sector through smart contracts.
Draper stated:
I’m a big fan of smart contracts. I can’t wait for the moment when I can raise all my investor money in Bitcoin, invest it all in Bitcoin, have them all pay their employees and suppliers and their taxes and everything else [in Bitcoin], and have it all be completely accounted for, audited, without an accountant, an auditor, a bookkeeper, a transfer agent, or a tax lawyer. This new economy will have far less friction. I think that’s very exciting.”
Advancements in AI have made it possible to create deepfake videos and voices in which scammers write the scripts to try and illegally obtain others’ crypto.
Even though billionaire investor and venture capitalist Tim Draper was clearly wrong when he predicted bitcoin (BTC) would reach $250,000 in June 2023, he said he still believes that it will happen eventually, maybe in 2025.
The American venture capital investor Tim Draper took the stage at Paris Blockchain Week 2023 to talk about the decentralization of the future of money.
ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees expects Bitcoin to reach $40,000 by the summer, while Tim Draper has stood by his $250,000 prediction for the second year running.
Venture capitalist Tim Draper continues to show staunch support for bitcoin even during this time. Draper who has been an evangelist for bitcoin has said multiple times that he expects the digital asset to hit six figures, and once again, he has taken an opportunity to double down on his predictions.
Bitcoin To Reach $250,000
In an interview with Bloomberg, Tim Draper said that he expects the price of bitcoin to actually reach $250,000. His reasoning behind this was that bitcoin has not really trickled down into retail shopping just yet. According to Draper, he believes that when this happens, bitcoin will see the $250,000 price mark, and possibly even higher.
Warning a tie sporting the bitcoin symbol, Draper points to the fact that women control 80% of all retail spending, and that it will be this demographic that drives this adoption. He explains that the participation of women in the space was already on the rise with 1 in 6 BTC wallets being owned by women. Then when women start using BTC payments for their retail spendings such as food, shelter, and clothing, and retailers start moving towards bitcoin to capture more profit, Draper expects the price of bitcoin to move quickly to $250,000.
This is not the first time that Draper would be giving a $250,000 BTC prediction. Although he did not give a timeline this time around, he had previously said that he expects the digital asset to hit this price in mid-2023. In the same interview, Draper also said that he holds most of his wealth in crypto.
BTC Still Holds Promise
A good argument for the future of bitcoin and the possibility of seeing six-figure prices is the fact that the cryptocurrency is still relatively young. It only took 12 years for the price to reach $69,000 and has roughly tripled in price every few years.
If BTC maintains its historical trend, then the next bull market, a $200,000 price mark would not be out of the question. A tripling of the previous all-time high for the next one would actually put the digital asset just above $200,000 in the next bull market.
For now, bitcoin is struggling to mark a bottom through the present bear market. Until a bottom is established, there is no runway for the market to start another bull rally. The bankruptcies of multiple large players have also not helped the digital asset in this regard either.
Featured image from Crypto Syringe, chart from TradingView.com
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Bitcoin has been on a bear path given its recent movements and it’s no secret that the digital asset is well out of the bull market. This has sparked speculations as to what will actually trigger another bull rally for the pioneer cryptocurrency. Billionaire Tim Draper who has always been vocal when it comes to his thoughts about the crypto market has weighed in on this and put forward what he believes will be the defining factor for the next bitcoin bull market.
Women Are The Key
It is no surprise that more women are moving into the market. Even though males still disproportionately dominate crypto investing, the number of women moving into the space has been on the rise, reaching as high as one in every three investors now being a woman. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go when it comes to bringing more women into crypto and billionaire Tim Draper believes that they will drive the next bitcoin rally.
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Draper bases this on the fact that women command an immense purchasing power and if they were to bring this power into the bitcoin market, it will trigger another rally for the digital asset. He is not very far off with this assessment given that he said that women control approximately 80% of retail spending.
BTC recovers above $30,000 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
Women, who only currently make up 30% of all crypto investors in the United States, are still yet to move into the market en masse compared to their male counterparts, who by comparison possess less retail purchasing power. The factors behind this disparity usually come down to the fact that males are said to be risk-takers compared to women. Hence, are more comfortable playing in a relatively new space with little to no regulation.
Driving Bitcoin To $250K
Draper’s analysis of more women moving into the market could mean that bitcoin will hit new all-time highs. He puts forward where he believes that the price of the digital asset may end up and that number came out to $250,000.
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However, the billionaire explains another factor that will drive the price to this point. Alongside more adoption from women, he cites adoption from merchants who save more money when they accept bitcoin compared to credit cards.
He notes that once the cryptocurrency becomes more widely accepted as a form of payment, it will drive more women to own bitcoin wallets and buy things with BTC. “Then you’re going to see a Bitcoin price that’ll just blow right through my $250,000 estimate,” the billionaire added.
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Bitcoin has been a part of billionaire Tim Draper’s investment portfolio for a while now. Draper had first gotten into bitcoin in 2011 when Peter Vincennes had convinced him to buy the digital asset. Draper had bought $250,000 worth of BTC, which he subsequently lost after the now-defunct Mt. Gox exchange crashed, where Draper had kept his coins.
Despite this, the billionaire was not deterred. So when another opportunity presented itself in the form of U.S. Marshalls auctioning off bitcoins seized from criminals, Draper took advantage of this opportunity. At the auction, Draper had bought 29,656 bitcoins at $632 apiece, which had totaled $18.74 since the coins were sold for $14 above the going rate on exchanges.
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The investor has never backed down from his belief in the future of cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin. Even giving some very optimistic predictions regarding the price of the asset in the coming years.
Draper Predicts Bitcoin At $250,000 By 2022
The first time the billionaire had made this prediction had been in 2018. Back then, the price of the digital asset was still trading below $10,000, so this did not seem as believable as it might be today. But Draper never faltered on his prediction.
The driving factor behind this prediction has been that the billionaire believes bitcoin will become an accepted mode of payment everywhere. Another important factor lies in the fact that there is a limited supply of BTC. This self-induced scarcity of the digital asset has the billionaire believing that the price will keep going up, saying, “because there are only 21 million of them.”
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Only one thing has differed in Draper’s price prediction for bitcoin. The billionaire had adjusted the timeline for his prediction by moving it farther to late 2022 or early 2023. But the price prediction remains unmoved at $250,000.
Trends Put BTC On Track For $250,000
Venture capitalist Tim Draper was on Benzinga’s Crypto Festival to talk about the number 1 cryptocurrency. Draper noted some trends which he believes will be the driving force behind bitcoin hitting $250,000 in 2022. Widespread adoption was one of these trends. He noted that people will eventually be able to use BTC in the way they currently use fiat currency. “One that happens,” Draper said, “there’s going to be a switch thrown in people’s heads.”
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A second trend the billionaire sees pushing bitcoin towards this price prediction is the inflation rate. Since governments have been constantly printing money, people have become worried about the future of their savings. This will push more investors into BTC as a way to hedge against the inevitable high rate of inflation that will follow limitless money printing.
The rise in bitcoin uses in retail spending was set to go higher, Draper said. Noting that women do about 80% of total retail spending, Draper sees women demanding more ways to pay with bitcoin. Explaining that the number of women investing in bitcoin had grown tremendously, growing from one in 14 BTC wallets owned by women to one in three BTC wallets currently owned by women.
BTC price still trading north of $47,000 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
When asked when he planned to sell his coins, the billionaire replied, “Why would I want to sell the future currency for the past currency? I just can’t imagine anything more important for humanity than this.” As for Draper’s $250,000 prediction for the digital asset’s price in late 2022 or early 2023, he said, “I think we’re right on track.”
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Bitcoin is not new to enthusiasts setting high price targets and forecasts that seem wild. In this vein, Tim Draper, who has always been a strong bitcoin advocate has been one of those giving the digital asset a high price target. Back in 2018, the billionaire had made a price prediction that seemed to most an outrageous forecast.
This was mostly due to the fact that at the time that Draper made the predictions, the price of bitcoin was still at a mere $8,000. But Draper had never backed down on his prediction. In fact, Draper had reiterated the price prediction in 2021, explaining that his faith and forecast are predicated on the fact that the digital asset will never have more than 21 million coins in circulation.
In addition to this, the fact that with each passing day, more and more investors lose their coins by way of forgetting private keys and seed phrases means that the total bitcoins that will be in circulation shrinks each day. Draper has not changed the timeline for his prediction too. According to the billionaire, his price prediction continues to be that he believes that the digital asset price will hit $250,000 by 2022.
Now, for the second time this year, Tim Draper is back to remind everyone that he still stands by this prediction.
Draper Stands By His Prediction
In an exclusive interview with Benzinga, Draper continued to reiterate his continued support for his prediction. Draper’s reply to the questions about his certainty in his prediction despite the negative price movements was that he stood by his prediction.
Draper still believes that bitcoin is set to hit $250,000 by end of 2022 or early 2023. The billionaire continues to be unfazed by the market movements so far this year.
Bitcoin, the number 1 digital asset, has lost over 50% of its value since it hit its all-time high of $64,000 back in April. So far the coin continues to struggles amidst market corrections. Draper gave his opinions on these market movements and downtrends so far.
We have had many ups and downs and will continue to, but the global, trusted, decentralized, frictionless, open, transparent bitcoin will become increasingly popular as more and more applications evolve.
Continuing on, Draper explained that to him, BTC meant freedom and trust. “Bitcoin is a modern hedge again inflation,” Draper said. Draper.
Draper is not the only one that believes bitcoin can help fight inflation. U.S. City Mayor Scott Conger had made the headlines last week when he tweeted that he believed bitcoin was a fix for inflation and was taking steps to make sure his constituents could pay their taxes in BTC.
Senator Cynthia Lummis is another prominent figure that has applauded the ability of bitcoin to help fight inflation. Lummis had said that the digital asset could help underpin the U.S. dollar to help combat rising inflation rates.
Tesla Payments And China Crackdown On Bitcoin Mining
The interview also included Adrian Pollard, who is co-founder of bitHolla. Pollard took time out to highlight some of the regrets of 2021. Namely; Tesla’s refusal to accept BTC payments, despite having accepted it earlier in the year, and the recent crackdowns by the Chinese government on mining.
In the interview, Pollard was asked if he had any regrets in the year 2021. Responding to this, Pollard had opined that if there was something he could undo in the year, then it would be the comments made by Elon Musk regarding the energy consumption of mining.
Although despite the negative news that had set back the price of the digital asset, Pollard remained positive. Pollard laid this out as more of a one step back and two steps forward scenario.
As for lessons learned, Draper explained that technology will ultimately prevail through fits and starts. Draper had paid $18 million for his first batch of bitcoin which he got at a U.S. Marshall’s office auction. The billionaire purchases over 29,000 coins at $632 apiece.
Bitcoin price is currently trading at $30,619, down 1.88% in the last 24 hours.
Featured image from CoinMod, chart from TradingView.com
There’s a lot of money in the crypto industry, that much is for sure. And we’re at a stage in which there are projects that are advanced enough for their creators to have already reaped the benefits. And then, there’s Bitcoin. Early adopters and believers, extremely long-term hodlers, are sitting on a fortune. Who’s made the most money, though?
An extremely difficult question to answer. The pseudonymous nature of blockchain technology makes inquiries like this a tall order. There are wallets that nobody knows who they belong to and hold thousands of coins. There are billionaires that have announced investments, but nobody knows which wallets belong to them. Not everyone in the crypto industry is a public figure. Not everyone in the space wants attention.
Taking that into account, the Coin Bureau YouTube channel launched an investigation and reached credible conclusions. If we agree that the list is for entertainment purposes and heavily western-focused, we can have fun with it. So, let’s do that.
Who Are The Six Richest Persons In The Crypto Industry?
To make this fair, the Coin Bureau focused on people who hold most of their assets in cryptocurrencies. That makes people like Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong and MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor ineligible, because most of their fortunes are tied to their companies. It also discards all the billionaires that have a small percentage of their fortunes in crypto.
So, now that the rules are clear, let’s get into it.
6.- Tim Draper and Max Keiser
Tied at number five, two very different Bitcoin believers.
Tim Draper: This venture capital investor made the purchase of a lifetime when he acquired all of the Bitcoin confiscated from the Silk Road dark web marketplace. “The US Marshall service auctioned off 30000 BTC which landed in Tim’s wallet for 19 million Dollars.” Those are now worth close to $1B. Draper is not part of the crypto industry, but, practicing diversification he also holds Bitcoin Cash, XRP, and Tezos.
Max Keiser: This broadcaster and filmmaker is the reason many people around the world know about Bitcoin. An early believer, “In a 2013 episode of The Keyser Report, Max announced that he had become a Bitcoin millionaire.” As per Coin Bureau calculations, that means he held 25K BTC. Assuming he continued to buy, and bought a modest 5K more, his holdings are now worth $1B.
5.- Vitalik Buterin:
Ethereum’s co-founder starred in a Twitter public fight previously covered by NewsBTC. “Vitalik’s Ethereum wallet address has been known since late 2018 when he shared it over Twitter in response to criticism over Ethereum’s pre-mine.” This key figure in the crypto industry now holds 334K ETH, which at today’s prices is approximately $1.5 B.
4.- The Winklevoss Broders
It’s public knowledge, the Winklevoss twins invested part of their Facebook settlement in a then-new idea. The story goes as follows, “While on Holyday in Ibiza in 2013, Tyler and Cameron learned about Bitcoin and subsequently decided to buy 1% of all the BTC in circulation.” With that, they founded the Gemini exchange, a key component of the crypto industry. Coin Bureau estimated that each twin holds “between 2-3 billion dollars in cryptocurrency, mostly Bitcoin.”
3.- Chris Larsen
One of the biggest criticism that the crypto industry wields against Ripple is the incredible amounts of XRP that its founders and the organization hold. Well, “the third biggest crypto billionaire is Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen who holds anywhere between 5.2 and 7.8 billion XRP.”
It’s worth noting that, “All XRP allocated to Ripple’s founders is subject to a vesting schedulle that will last untill 2026, assuming the SEC doesnt succed in its case against Ripple, in which case Chis’s XRP will be unsellable by law.” It looks the other way so far, though. And the market seems to be supporting this turn of events.
2.- Sam Bankman-Fried
Did you know that FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried was in talks with Binance’s CZ to fund an exchange together before any of the two made it big? True story. Well, Bankman-Fried is the “founder of Alameda Research and the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.”
Alameda Research made more money than god in an arbitrage trade. They figured out there was a premium hidden in Bitcoin’s prices in Japan. They bought in the U.S., sold in Japan, and made history. And a fortune. After that, “The FTX derivatives exchange is Sam’s second endevour, and it’s become one of the most popular crypto exchanges since it was founded in 2019.”
A key part of the crypto industry, through FTX he’s helped launch very successful crypto projects. Plus, they have their own coin that has appreciated over time. Coin Bureau says, “Sam’s exact cryptocurrency holdings are not known, I estimate them to total anywhere between 5 and 10 billion dollars.”
Even though CZ’s net worth is “listed at around 2 billion dollars,” Coin Bureau investigated and made some controversial assumptions. First of all, after attending a crypto conference, “CZ subsequently decided to sell his apartment in Shanghai and go all-in on Bitcoin. If my calculations are correct this banked him anywhere between 50 to 100 thousand BTC.”
The Bureau uncovered some articles in which CZ said that he likes to hold his fortune in crypto-assets, so they assume that he’s still holding to that. Years later, when Binance launched their own coin, 40% of BNBs initial minting of 100 million was allocated to the founding team. Again, the Bureau assumes he still has them, “CZ’s BNB holdings alone could easy be over 10 Billion Dollars at today’s prices.”
And that’s it, that’s their list. Do you think they forgot anyone in the crypto industry? Aren’t there even bigger whales in China? Are all of these people small potatoes compared to Satoshi Nakamoto himself? Let’s just take the list as a starting point and build on it.
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