The world's top cryptocurrency has attracted interest from some of the wealthiest people in the world.
With its introduction in 2009, Bitcoin (BTC -2.30%) ushered in the cryptocurrency era, helping some early adopters achieve enormous wealth and leading to some speculators surely going broke. Since then, digital assets, and Bitcoin in particular, have increasingly become a popular investment vehicle for many individuals and institutions.
Even some well-known billionaires, including MicroStrategy Chairman Michael Saylor, Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, own some Bitcoin. And here's why you should, too.
Bitcoin has been one of the best-performing assets
Since April 2013 (the earliest data provided by coinmarketcap.com), Bitcoin has produced a monster return of over 15,000%, despite being down 57% in 2022. This performance crushes the S&P 500, which generated a total return of 191% during the same period.
As of this writing, Bitcoin carries a market cap of just under $400 billion, easily making it the most valuable cryptocurrency out there. And this is precisely why it is usually an investor's first stop in the world of digital assets.
Whereas another top cryptocurrency, Ethereum, receives a lot of attention thanks to its smart-contract functionality and the recently completed "Merge," which gives this blockchain promise for disrupting numerous industries and bring about real utility, Bitcoin was simply created as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. And while this might seem boring in the exciting and fast-paced crypto space, Bitcoin itself has some incredible potential.
Despite a recent history that has been full of extreme volatility, I think Bitcoin has a bright future.
Bitcoin has unreal potential
Up to this point, Bitcoin has really only been used as a store of value, meaning that both individuals and institutions hold it with the hopes that the price will go up over time. In this regard, Bitcoin is viewed by some as a digital version of gold. For thousands of years, the precious metal has been a popular asset to own in order to store wealth.
But Bitcoin has better properties because the top crypto is more divisible, portable and can be used more easily in transactions than gold. Plus, younger, tech-savvy people familiar with the internet may be more comfortable storing wealth in a digitally scarce asset like Bitcoin as opposed to gold. If Bitcoin even approaches half of the $12.5 trillion total value of gold on Earth, that would equate to a nearly 16-fold increase in market cap.
While Bitcoin has sizable upside if it simply becomes more widely accepted as a legitimate store of value, the real potential comes from it becoming a medium of exchange, meaning Bitcoin could be used in transactions. Right now, the Bitcoin network can process less than four transactions per second (TPS), not even close to Visa'scapacity of 65,000 TPS. But a scaling solution, known as the Lightning Network, is a promising development that makes transaction settlement instantaneous with virtually no costs. A lot of work still needs to be done for its adoption to grow, but the potential is there.
However, day-to-day transactions aren't the only opportunity. A more realistic use case for Bitcoin as a medium of exchange has to do with settlements between governments, financial institutions, or corporations. When these large parties transact with each other, settlement can take days and involve multiple intermediaries. Bitcoin settlement takes 10 minutes, with the average transaction size being $65,000. What's more, there's no need for central authorities. Therefore, the speed to finality, coupled with the ability to handle bigger dollar values and facilitate a direct connection between opposing parties, makes Bitcoin appealing in this regard.
Billionaires like Michael Saylor, Elon Musk, and Mark Cuban most likely understand the bullish arguments for Bitcoin, and that's why they own some. Individual investors should consider following in their footsteps.
Neil Patel has positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tesla, and Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
FAQs
The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Block. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Which crypto did Motley Fool invest in? ›
The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Could Bitcoin reach $1 billion? ›
Jurrien Timmer, Fidelity's global head of macro, has claimed that Bitcoin could go as high as $1 billion by 2038. The prediction is mostly based on Metcalfe's law, which states that a networked financial asset's value is equal to the square of the number of users in the network.
Do millionaires invest in Bitcoin? ›
Bitcoin has made many millionaires already, and you could be one, too. Over the course of its 15-year history, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has made plenty of millionaires. In fact, data from the blockchain analytics platform Glassnode shows roughly 115,000 wallet addresses with a balance of more than $1 million today.
Should I or should I not invest in Bitcoin? ›
Sarathy concurs that there are risks involved with investing in these cryptocurrencies, including price volatility, cybersecurity concerns and a lack of regulations compared to traditional currency. Ultimately, it's up to each individual user how much risk they want to take.
What is the best company to invest in Bitcoin? ›
Comparison Results
| Name | Price | Analyst Price Target |
|---|
| MSTR Microstrategy | $1223.01 | $1,678.75 (37.26% Upside) |
| BYON Beyond Inc | $22.28 | $37.80 (69.66% Upside) |
| HIVE HIVE Blockchain Technologies | $2.44 | $6.17 (152.87% Upside) |
| RIOT Riot Platforms | $10.42 | $19.44 (86.56% Upside) |
3 more rowsMore than half of the experts Finder surveyed expected the price to increase after a so-called "BTC halving event" in April 2024. A halving event refers to a period every few years when the reward for mining Bitcoin transactions is cut in half.
Which coin will reach $1 in 2024? ›
In the dynamic landscape of cryptocurrency, these ten coins, including TRON, Shiba Inu, Astar, Kaspa, Dogecoin, Stellar, Kava, Polygon, Cronos, and VeChain, present diverse potentials for reaching the $1 milestone in 2024.
What is the explosive crypto in 2024? ›
Here's our list of cryptos that will explode in 2024: Dogeverse (DOGEVERSE) – A multi-chain Doge token expected to boom in 2024. Sealana ($SEAL) – Meme token with an engaging story and a fixed presale price. WienerAI (WAI) – A prime meme coin contender for explosive growth in 2024.
What will $1000 of Bitcoin be worth in 2030? ›
If Bitcoin continues this pattern into 2030, the price could peak around 2029 or 2030. If Wood is correct and Bitcoin reaches $3.8 million, if you invested $1,000 in Bitcoin now, it would be worth $54,280 in 2030. This would result in a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 95%.
Wood told CNBC that bitcoin was offering citizens in countries like Egypt and Nigeria a way to protect their wealth. “I think this is a flight to safety, believe it or not, taking place,” Wood said. “A hedge against devaluation, a hedge against a loss of purchasing power and wealth...
What will Bitcoin be worth in 10 years? ›
However, some experts have offered bold projections. Cathie Wood, the founder, chief executive officer, and chief investment officer of ARK Invest, believes that Bitcoin could be worth $1 million per coin before 2030, as adoption by institutional investors increases.
Who got rich off of Bitcoin? ›
For the third year running, Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of crypto exchange Binance, is crypto's wealthiest person. Despite pleading guilty to U.S. money laundering charges in November, CZ, as he's known, is now worth an estimated $33 billion, up from $10.5 billion last year.
Can Bitcoin still make me rich? ›
However, it's still possible to make money with Bitcoin. You can trade it, lend it, hold it or earn it. Returns aren't guaranteed on this volatile asset; just as you can make money as the price goes up, it's also possible you could lose money if the price goes down.
What if I invested $1000 in Bitcoin in 2010? ›
That investment would be worth $6,859,178,076.22 today based on the same price of $28,122.63 at the time of writing. While investing in Bitcoin today may never be worth billions of dollars in the future, the hypothetical investment illustrates the large increase in value of the leading cryptocurrency over time.
Who owns the most Bitcoin? ›
Who owns the most Bitcoin in the world? The top Bitcoin holder is still believed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, who reportedly holds around 1.1 million BTC across many wallets. Despite this large holding, the top 10 holders collectively only possess about 5.5% of the total Bitcoin supply.
How much does it cost to buy one Bitcoin? ›
Why is Bitcoin going down after halving? ›
At the same time, the halving boosts the perceived scarcity of Bitcoin. That's because the maximum lifetime supply of Bitcoin is capped at 21 million coins, and there are already 19.7 million coins in circulation.
How much is 1 Bitcoin stock worth? ›
About Bitcoin
The Bitcoin price is $62,608.61, a change of 2.72% over the past 24 hours as of 4:00 a.m.
