Why Ethereum will hit $500 in 2017

First off as a disclaimer, I own Ethereum and Bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies and this should not be construed as investment advice. Please do your own research before investing. I purchased my first Bitcoin in 2013 and started buying Ether in January of this year as low as $11.05. I have always been interested in finance, the economy, and investing and opened my first stock account when I was 12. I grew up during the Greenspan era and have lived a great American middle-class life. I studied Economics in college and when the great recession hit in 2008, I followed it closely. The Fed through stimulus, bailouts, QE, and financial engineering has “saved” the markets but many of us know something just isn’t right.

Central banks around the globe have printed trillions and their balance sheets have swelled to over $15T and this growth has accelerated since 2016. With the trillions in money printing we are growing at less than 2% according to government statistics and it is clear more and more debt is now required for each percentage point of growth at the expense of future generations. Keep in mind this money is being printed out of thin air and backed by nothing but the full faith and credit of the US government and others around the globe. With the top 0.1% now having roughly the same wealth as the bottom 90%, it is clear who the federal reserve has benefited since its creation in 1913.

If you like me are not happy with this runaway spending in Washington and at the Federal Reserve, we have had little alternative to opt out of the current system. Sure we can invest in gold and silver (great stores of value for thousands of years), but not great mediums of exchange in this digital age. That is, until Bitcoin came onto the scene in January of 2009. When I first heard of bitcoin in 2013, I immediately knew I had to get my hands on this exciting new technology.

Fast-forward to 2017, and we now have the option to invest our hard-earned money in hundreds of alternate crypto currencies whose total market cap now exceeds $112B. Ethereum has really stuck out to me as a technology that has the potential to disrupt the current system and change the world. In March 2017 when the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance was announced with the likes of Toyota, Samsung, Microsoft, Intel, JP Morgan, Merck, BNY Mellon, BP, ING, UBS, CME Group and others it was crystal clear to me that this was the start of something big.

Since that time, Ethereum has rallied over 1,500% and in my opinion, this is just the beginning. In this digital age credit cards are how we transact globally. In the US, total credit card debt will top $1T this year. Merchants have to pay roughly 1.95% - 2% per transaction or more and now with Ethereum you can pay any merchant around the globe essentially instantly with no counterparty risk for pennies. I just sent $3,000 for less than $0.15, this is truly remarkable. No banks or credit card processing companies whose servers can go down and track your purchases. This aspect alone is a game changer not to mention its amazing ability to store value through fixed and limited supply over holding currency being printed into oblivion by runaway central banks. With currency crisis around the globe, many are fleeing their native currencies for stability of purchasing power in crytpo currencies. In India there has been a ~20% premium to buy bitcoin in response to the government’s recent restrictions on the rupee.

This is a global market and as more people and businesses learn about the benefits of digital currencies, adoption will continue to grow. We will likely see first viral applications in the next year or two at current growth rates with US based Coinbase adding over 40k new users in one day alone recently. Crypto currencies are the internet of money. What happened when the internet started competing with music, media, TV, movies, and news? The $1.45T market cap of Netflix, Apple, and Google say the internet won. Next up on that list, traditional banking.

The CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace said May 2017 average daily volume reached 16.5 million contracts, up 11% on the year. Imagine if Ethereum captures just a portion of the daily volume invested in global markets on a daily basis, not to mention daily credit payments and money sent around the globe. Also imagine what instantaneous settlement does for these markets as opposed to the current system where you have to wait days for settlement with higher fee structures.

Then you have increasing numbers of central banks and governments working on digitizing their national currencies. China and Russia are reviewing using Ethereum as the base protocol for a digital Yuan and Ruble. The Royal Chinese Mint is testing Ethereum and its ERC 20 token to digitize the renminbi (RMB) or Chinese yuan. We are truly at the beginning of something spectacular, a truly free market innovation in money that we have never seen before. With Ethereum currently trading at $335, the current market cap of $31B is just a drop in the bucket of its upside potential. At a current supply of ~92.4mm when Ethereum hits $500, total market cap will be $46.2B. This will likely happen in the next 6 months with the current macro climate and troubles facing bitcoin.

Bitcoin has been having block size limit issues for quite some time. As a result, there have been debates on whether Bitcoin should increase its block size in order to cater to more investors. While Bitcoin has a few scaling options, I don’t anticipate the communities coming to an agreement with current incentives in the market and expect the great flippening to occur by August 5th with the current ETH/BTC ratio at ~66%.

We have seen quite the run in cryptos the last few months and may need to take another breather before the next leg up, however this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to jump on the crypto train. Similar to the start of the internet, eBay, Paypal, the iPhone, and Facebook. Cryptos and their decentralized nature are truly a disruptive technology and the sky is the limit. Finally fair and free money for all. Congratulations to all that are holding and participating in this amazing technology, if you haven’t done so already send a friend some BTC or ETH and get them on the crypto train! Choo Choo, see you at $500!

ETH address:
0xD949cE6eFDE88A324432945D297e9A354cE78B07

With Coinbase you can send bitcoin or ethereum to anyone in the world. Join and earn $10 in free bitcoin!
https://www.coinbase.com/join/528aef33450a6de46c00004a