If you were to go back in time and tell someone that a piece of virtual currency in 2009 worth only a few cents would be worth as much as $60,000 in 2023, no one would believe you. Bitcoin’s rise has been dramatic, monumental, and drastic – something never seen before in stock market history. With bitcoin hitting its valuation peak, many investors regret not investing in bitcoin earlier. Those who did are wealthy people now without any worry about their retirement plans and future.
According to advfn.com, however, there are still people out there that argue bitcoin isn’t an actual commodity like other cryptocurrencies. These people don’t seem to think that bitcoin has a bright future and instead think it’s going to fall eventually. While it is true that we do not know what bitcoin holds in store for us, it is wrong to assume that it will let us down especially after dramatically increasing in value over the years. It is essential that we note bitcoin was only worth cents when it started and it holds a capital market of $653 billion right now.
Seeing bitcoin’s dramatic rise, investors can’t help but wonder – what’s next? Where will bitcoin be in the next 10 years? Will it achieve peak value? These are the questions investors keep having debates and arguments about. The problem is, no one really knows. Some people have high hopes for bitcoin while some don’t believe in it at all. Depending on how things go, bitcoin can either be an instant hit in 10 years or an echoing failure – nothing in between. That’s just how volatile the bitcoin market is and that is how it works.
To help you figure out the answers, in this article, we’ll discuss the various possible futures for bitcoin in the next 10 years and the factors that affect its future.
What will bitcoin be worth in 10 years?
Depending on who you ask, you might get an answer that ranges anything from $5000 to $1 million. This is because there are many people who are die-hard fans of bitcoin and cryptocurrency and there are some that still believe bitcoin’s future to be bleak. Case in point, Elon Musk, and Warren Buffet. Elon musk believes in Bitcoin so much that he bought $1 billion worth of bitcoin for his company and opened cryptocurrency options for purchasing their cars.
This hiked the cryptocurrency market dramatically making it hit $60,000 the second time in 2023. Then there is Warren Buffet who personally has never believed in cryptocurrency and thinks it might fail in the upcoming years. Investors like him believe that cryptocurrency is going to crash as quickly as it rises in value and make everyone lose their investments. This duality in view has given different viewpoints to look at bitcoin’s future – an optimistic view and a pessimistic view.
Why is there such a major difference of opinion?
To be fair, people who invest in bitcoin have a very good reason to do so. A currency that has such phenomenal returns if you just have patience and study the market well is lucrative for any investor. Many bitcoin billionaires, i.e. people who became billionaires by investing in bitcoin, think that bitcoin is not like other forms of commodities and will last longer in the market than any other commodity.
This was proven as a real-life example during the pandemic when economies and stock markets crashed but the only thing that was left unaffected was bitcoin. On the other hand, it is also true that the value of bitcoin is known to slump for a few years occasionally. Bitcoin has an infamous history of being volatile in its value and this is what makes potential investors wary of bitcoin.
There is a very good chance that you might invest in bitcoin but never get your money back for 3-4 years just because of the slump. There are also talks going on about a cryptocurrency winter that’s going to hit bitcoin when it reaches its peak. Once it hits, bitcoin will lose 90% of its value and stay like that for a few years. However, these are just theories with no actual evidence behind them.
Factors influencing bitcoin’s future
Various factors influence the future of bitcoin and possibly the future of cryptocurrency as well because the market is still new and volatile. These factors are:
Regulations
Bitcoin is decentralized and unregulated. That is, it is not under the control of any government or central authority and is neither regulated by it. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing is, since it is not under any central authority, you can have various anonymous transactions on it and are also not applicable for any taxes for them.
The bad thing is since it is not regulated it also exposes you to hackers and potential scammers if you aren’t aware enough. Governments are frustrated with the fact that they cannot control bitcoin in any way possible which is why some countries have even started banning it. Bitcoin mining operations also consume a lot of electricity so countries like Iran, who suffer from power shortage, have banned it. Every time a country bans bitcoin, it drops in value and if all countries do this, we can see a drastic fall for the cryptocurrency industry.
Media influence
Media has a major influence on the future of bitcoin. Bitcoin investors know this well but don’t like to admit it. The reason is that the media can easily manipulate the masses to sell or buy bitcoin. All they have to do is report a piece of news that either encourages bitcoin or thrashes it which sets new investors in a selling/buying frenzy which affects the market a lot.
A more worrying problem is if people get a permanent adverse impression about bitcoin, they may shy away from investing in it altogether. If people don’t show interest in bitcoin and don’t invest in it in future, it can very well drop in value since the entire market is run by these bitcoin investors. That’s why if the media wants, they can either make bitcoin into a trillion-dollar market (and a $1 million valuation) or make its price drop below $5000 in 10 years.
Conclusion
There is no simple answer to bitcoin’s future but we hope this article gives you an idea of what you can expect. Feel free to form your own opinions. If you like this article, please consider following our website for regular updates as it will help us immensely.
