Bitcoin Price Will Reach $500,000 Realistically: Snapchat's First Investor

Jeremy Liew, the first investor in Snap Inc., the $24.5 bln parent company of popular social media platform Snapchat, said in an interview with Business Insider that Bitcoin price can realistically reach $500,000 by 2030.

Since its introduction in 2009, with the exception of one year, Bitcoin has consistently been the world’s best-performing currency and asset.

Contrary to the perception of Bitcoin by the general consumer base, Bitcoin’s volatility rate has significantly decreased over the past few years and has transformed into a stable store of value, digital gold and settlement network.

Bitcoin as remittance and settlement network
Bitcoin is currently being utilized globally as a means of payment and efficient remittance method. In fact, as reported by Cointelegraph in February, the Philippines officially recognized Bitcoin as a legitimate remittance and payment method.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country’s central bank, stated in its Circular No.944:

“Rather, the BSP aims to regulate VCs when used for delivery of financial services, particularly, for payments and remittances, which have a material impact on anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT), consumer protection and financial stability.”

According to Liew and Blockchain CEO Peter Smith, the transportability and high liquidity of Bitcoin allow the digital currency to operate as a practical remittance method for the general consumer base. In that regard, Liew explained that Bitcoin is appealing to mainstream investors and users as a strong investment and reliable digital currency.

Liew and Smith noted:

"Expats sending money home have found in Bitcoin an inexpensive alternative, and we assume that the percentage of Bitcoin-based remittances will sharply increase with greater Bitcoin awareness. We believe Bitcoin awareness, high liquidity, ease of transport and continued market outperformance as geopolitical risks mount, will make Bitcoin a strong contender for investment at a consumer and investor level.”

Bitcoin’s distinctive applications are enabling the currency to grow at an explosive rate. Some are utilizing Bitcoin as a wealth management tool, while others are relying on Bitcoin to send and receive payments, to profit in the long run, and settle transactions with low fees and shorter confirmation periods in contrast to bank transfers.

In consideration of Bitcoin’s exponential growth, its limited supply, scarcity and rarity, Liew explained that it is highly likely for Bitcoin price to reach $500,000 as its user base reaches 400 mln. Currently, there exist approximately 20 mln Bitcoin wallets provided by service providers such as Blockchain and Coinbase. Liew expects the user base of Bitcoin to grow by 20 times in the next 13 years.

“Bitcoin's 2030 price and user count total $500,000 and 400 million, respectively. The price is found by taking the $10 trillion market cap and dividing it by the fixed supply of 20 million bitcoin,” a section of the presentation provided by Liew and Smith read.

Why the SEC ruling wasn’t surprising for Liew and Smith
For Liew and Smith, the denial of the Winklevoss twins’ Bitcoin ETF COIN was somewhat expected, primarily due to the inefficiency of the SEC when it comes to the approval of new markets and assets. However, Liew also noted that Bitcoin does not need a strictly regulated channel in order to appeal to a large group of investors.

The Bitcoin exchange market itself provides a high level of liquidity for traders. Thus, it is relatively easy for an average trader to purchase and sell Bitcoin on regulated platforms.

He told Business Insider:

"The SEC’s ruling wasn't a surprise to us. We know that getting this sort of approval is going to take (a potentially long) time. In the meantime, bitcoin is already simple to buy and hold and, as the asset continues to mature, we'll continue to see an increase in the development and deployment of surrounding products."