Top VC Believes Macro Environment Could Spur Bitcoin Adoption
There’s no doubt the past few weeks have been tough for crypto investors.
In the middle of March, Bitcoin fell off a proverbial cliff, tanking from $7,700 to a low of $3,800 in the span of a single day. Altcoins followed suit, actually falling even more than the market leader.
And as a result, millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency were liquidated, sentiment hit rock bottom, and many traders and investors threw in the towel, accentuated by a dissolution of market liquidity and some off-hand social media comments.
But, a prominent venture capitalist isn’t convinced that the industry is dead. In fact, he went as far as to say that the current macroeconomic environment, which is what contributed to the aforementioned crash, will spur Bitcoin adoption.
Top VC Still Crazy Bullish on Bitcoin
In a recent interview with InnMind, venture capitalist Tim Draper explained that the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, which has placed the macroeconomic environment into a unique position, is likely going to be a boon for Bitcoin adoption:
“This is going to be a really interesting time where people say ‘well, why don’t I just use Bitcoin?’ [We can…] all agree on and it’s all a part of the economy and it’s already frictionless and open and transparent and global.”
Draper attributed this sentiment to the simple fact that unlike fiat money, Bitcoin cannot be inflated away by governments or central banks who need to print money to save economies.
This comes shortly after Draper said that he still believes Bitcoin will hit $250,000 in 2022 or 2023:
I’m still holding to my prediction. I think Bitcoin will hit $250,000 in 2022 or at the beginning of 2023 , and that is a big move from where it is here.
As to why he thinks this is going to be the case, he explained that Bitcoin is on track to become the “currency of choice” of the future, citing how integrations of scaling solutions will likely make the cryptocurrency more fundamentally attractive than traditional payment rails such as Visa.
Draper is known for making investments in companies such as Baidu, Hotmail, Tesla, SpaceX, AngelList, Twitter, Robinhood, Coinbase, Twitch, and many others. He also gained press for purchasing millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency when the U.S. Marshals Service auctioned off BTC seized from the Silk Road operation.
It’s Starting… Slowly But Surely
What’s crazy is that what Draper suggested would happen, whereas people are adopting Bitcoin, has already started.
As reported by Blockonomi previously, leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase reported that during the now-infamous Black Thursday crash (through which Bitcoin lost 50% of its value in a single 24-hour time period), the exchange saw a dramatic surge in buying interest for cryptocurrency:
“But beyond just a rush, two things are clear: customers of our retail brokerage were buyers during the drop, and Bitcoin was the clear favorite. Our customers typically buy 60% more than they sell but during the crash this jumped to 67%, taking advantage of market troughs and representing strong demand for crypto assets even during extreme volatility.”
Kraken saw a similar trend, with the exchange reporting “an 83% rise in signups, and a 300% increase in [KYC] verifications,” according to the linked tweet.
Google Trends has also registered a slight bump in search interest for the term “buy Bitcoin,” with interest actually spiking in response to the drop seen in March, the below chart indicates.
Also, as I mentioned in a previous Blockonomi article, even my nearly-90-year-old grandfather called me up last weekend, asking if I could digitally walk him through how he could buy “a little bit of” Bitcoin and Ethereum and how he could store the cryptocurrency.
Yes, consumers are seemingly adopting Bitcoin for its properties as a tradable and investable asset, not as a form of money, but many in the industry see this as “adoption” nonetheless.
The post Top VC Believes Macro Environment Could Spur Bitcoin Adoption appeared first on Blockonomi.
OhNoCryptocurrency via https://www.ohnocrypto.com/ @Nick Chong, @Khareem Sudlow
