Can Bitcoin Reach $1 Million?

Everytime Bitcoin (BTC 1.42%) shows signs of life, investors are beginning to wonder how much the cryptocurrency might be worth in the long run. In the early days, Bitcoin didn’t seem to be worth anything. The first known purchase of a physical thing with payment with digital currencies was a May 2010 order for two large pizzas in exchange for 10,000 Bitcoin. The currency surged to $1,000 per Bitcoin in 2013, stalled just below the $20,000 mark in 2017, and rose to approximately $68,800 per coin in November 2021.

Bitcoin has come a long way from the pizza-based price of 0.2 cents per coin. At today’s price of $21,230 per Bitcoin, Laszlo Hanyecz effectively spent $212 million on these tomato pies. So if the crypto value multiplies by more than 10 million times in 12 years, it might seem fair to expect a million-dollar price tag within the next decade.

Many pundits and well-known investors say “yes”

Reaching $1,000,000 per Bitcoin by 2030 is a pretty popular projection.

• Crypto trading platform BitMEX’s ex-CEO Arthur Hays made that exact prediction four months ago.
• The well-known growth investor Cathie Wood set the same goal in April 2022.
• Serial entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano took the stage at the same Bitcoin 2022 event to say that Bitcoin could reach $500,000 or $1,000,000 in the near future — but anything beyond that would require a social collapse and total meltdown of the US dollar.
• At the beginning of June, Micro strategy (MSTR 11.71%) Chairman Michael Saylor doubled down on his bullish price predictions in a CNBC interview: “It’s not going to zero. If it’s not going to zero, it’s going to be a million because it’s obviously better than gold in everything that gold will be.”

It is true that all of these Bitcoin bulls have significant financial interests in the Bitcoin market. For example, if the coin ever reaches $1 million, the company’s current cache of roughly 130,000 Bitcoins will rise from $2.8 billion to $130 billion. As a result, MicroStrategy will be a financial heavyweight with Bitcoin-based cash reserves comparable to its software sector rivals Microsoft and Alphabet.

At the same time, people like Michael Saylor and Cathie Wood are putting their money where their mouth is. If they are wrong and Bitcoin never replaces gold as the standard holder of long-term value, they could lose every penny of the massive investments they have made so far. Perhaps more importantly, they can look pretty stupid if their big Bitcoin gamble doesn’t work out as planned. No one wants to lose face like that, especially in an industry where a robust reputation gets you more clients and partners.

What can go wrong?

Regulators and governments around the world are still figuring out how to deal with these newfangled digital assets. Some of them may set overly draconian frameworks for trading, transactions and ownership of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. The domestic regulatory work is particularly important for us American investors, of course. It will take a couple more years for this particular source of uncertainty to calm down.

Bitcoin certainly has a leg up on the crypto competition when it comes to disrupting the gold market – but that future isn’t set in stone. Other digital coins may come along with better technology, more secure transactions and other unbeatable benefits. In that world, we could see another name grab Bitcoin’s crown, challenging early investors to adapt or be left behind.

So Bitcoin enthusiasts like Michael Saylor and Arthur Hays could still lose everything. However, I believe cryptocurrencies are here to stay and there is good reason to believe that Bitcoin will remain a cornerstone of this evolving market. There will be volatility along the way and the current crypto crisis could last for years, as the previous one did. It is okay. I am in this investment for the long term.

All things considered, I think it’s a good idea to keep some Bitcoin in your long-term investment portfolio. If the lofty million dollar price target holds, every $10,000 you invest in Bitcoin today will be worth nearly half a million dollars by 2030. It would be a shame to miss that opportunity, right?