Major cryptocurrencies lost a large part of their value in
the recent market crash after being heavily criticized for boosting fossil fuel
consumption and China cracking down on their trade. Bitcoin, which saw a
meteoric surge this year, had hit an all-time high of nearly $ 65,000 before
losing more than 50 percent in value last month.
“I think I’ll be right here,” Draper told CNBC, adding, “I’m
either really right or really wrong. I’m pretty sure it’s going in that direction.
“
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was priced at $ 39,000
Draper’s proposed schedule is more than a year away and he
said his prediction will hold because by then more people would start trading
cryptocurrencies. “Give about a year and a half and retailers will all be
betting on OpenNode (a bitcoin payment processor) so everyone will accept
bitcoin,” he said.
Not many companies currently accept payments in
cryptocurrencies directly or through third-party digital wallets. Draper has
also based his prediction on a possible surge in demand as more people use
them, given that there are only 21 million bitcoins available for “mining” in
total. Over 18 million bitcoins are already in circulation.
Draper, 63, is a seasoned venture capitalist who built his
fortune by investing early in Twitter, Skype, Tesla, and SpaceX.
Regarding Dogecoin, which has been repeatedly endorsed by
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, he said it could have potential because “it
makes us all smile,” but engineers aren’t working on it and everyone is focused
on Bitcoin. At the time of writing, the Dogecoin price in India was Rs. 23.7.
Last week, Bitcoin received its first upgrade in four years.
It’s slated to go into effect in November and is likely to make transactions
more efficient and provide more privacy.
Draper said he believes that despite its massive energy
consumption, which was also noted by Musk, Bitcoin will be a major player in
all financial activity for the next two to three decades.
“Elon is first and foremost one of the most brilliant men in
the world, perhaps the most brilliant, [but] he got it wrong, ”Draper said last
week.
Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss everything about
crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on
Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts,
Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and anywhere you get your podcasts.