Investment management firm VanEck has made a bold prediction that bitcoin could reach an astonishing $2.9 million per coin by the year 2050. This forecast is based on their base case scenario, which envisions bitcoin becoming a key international medium of exchange and ultimately growing to be one of the world’s reserve currencies.
VanEck’s report outlines three distinct scenarios for bitcoin’s price by 2050. The base case scenario predicts a price of $2.9 million per BTC, while a bear scenario projects a minimum of $130,314, and a bull forecast sees the price soaring to $52.4 million. Under the base case scenario, VanEck envisions bitcoin handling 10% of the world’s international trade and 5% of domestic trade by 2050. The firm predicts that central banks will hold 2.5% of their assets in BTC, with 85% of BTC effectively removed from circulation as investors seek its store-of-value properties.
The report also predicts a total market capitalization of $61 trillion for Bitcoin, with Layer-2 solutions like the Lightning Network being collectively worth $7.6 trillion. VanEck believes that the erosion of trust in current reserve assets will play a significant role in bitcoin’s rise, fueled by concerns over deficit spending and geopolitical developments.
Despite the optimistic projection, VanEck acknowledges several risks that could prevent bitcoin’s growth, including rising energy demand associated with future mining, potential competitive threats from other cryptocurrencies, and regulatory challenges from governments worldwide. However, if bitcoin can overcome these obstacles, VanEck’s forecast suggests that the digital currency could reach unprecedented heights by 2050.
