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Cryptocurrencies have had a storied history. They began with Bitcoin being a currency of the dark web before they were dragged into the mainstream thanks to astronomical price rises. These gains quickly attracted traders and investors who looked to leverage the emerging market for massive profit.
Some succeeded, many failed dismally. all the while the price of Bitcoin skyrocketed to $20,000… then fell back down to the $3,000 in less than a year.
But what does the future hold? There are hundreds of outlandish predictions of where Bitcoin will be in the next year, five, or 10 years, but rather than making price predictions; it is interesting to hear the thoughts of an early investor.
Daniel Ameduri is a self-made millionaire and president of Future Money Trends LLC. He is an investor and proclaimed trend forecaster that has an interest in both cryptocurrencies and gold. He also has some interesting thoughts on the two assets as they stand today, and how they correlate.
Your thoughts on the state of crypto investing currently and predictions for the next year, five years, ten years?
Daniel Ameduri: “My first letter profiled Bitcoin at $13, but I was told about it when it was at $1. This is what first attracted me to the industry. I went to a crypto-conference in 2011, and there was probably 300 people there, not a single one was trying to make money, they just wanted to build this unbelievably alternative to the financial markets.”
“At the beginning, it was all about it being a currency, but today… what is the state of it? I mean, you have Bitcoin and top tier cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Litecoin and Dash where people are using them for transactions and that. That same enthusiasm is so much stronger today, those people are still out there today, but they are out there in the hundreds of thousands, and I think the state of the market now is that you have two fronts – the blockchain which is being implemented by companies like IBM, which is going to change everything for everybody when it comes to the integrity of our transactions and lower cost fees.”
“Then, on the crypto front, of course everyone wants to know when is crypto going to have its next big move, and I think it will be another year, just because it had such a significant move and I don’t think we are going to go into a mania for a year or two years, maybe more. It still needs to sort out its high transaction costs and slow transaction dealings right now.”
“It is still very early, in the building phase. I would say we are internet and email 1990 / 1991 / 1992, still very early for crypto. But I see Bitcoin over the next five years… because there are only 17 million outstanding and if you look at it as a penny stock, there is so much demand for it – so I would say – although hard to make a price prediction because it is speculative – but upwards of $100,000 is possible because there are only 17 million that are trading.”
Will Bitcoin be used as a currency, or will it be a long term store of value going forward?
DA: “I think that depends on how the governments treat us going forward. Western governments that are going the way of Cyprus, for example, where people are getting bank accounts confiscated by the banks, or the governments continue to make things more difficult.”
“I’ll give you an example, for an American to invest in a Cannabis stock; honestly, they have to set up a Canadian brokerage account, or they will have all sorts of issues. I have had my brokerage accounts shut down because I have been involved in buying cannabis companies.”
“The appeal of Bitcoin is that it is outside of the current banking system and outside of the government’s hands. I think it will be used as a store of value, especially for the super rich. I don’t think Bitcoin is going to be used in Starbucks, or day to day transaction, I believe the blockchain might be implemented by Visa and Mastercard, but I don’t think people are going to change their habits.”
“The fact of the matter is, even though Bitcoin is providing a solution for the ultra concerned about their privacy and accessibility to their money, 99 percent of people out there swipe their card and go to Starbucks they have no problems.”
What about Gold investing as it stands currently, and into the future?
DA: “Gold is in a very good position for people who are just wanting to protect themselves and have a little money outside of the banking system. Physical gold is a great store of value; the Russian Central Banks are buying it, major institutions are getting involved.”
“China is the number one gold producer, and not a single ounce is exported, in fact, they are the largest creator of gold, largest producer of gold, and the largest importer of gold, same goes for silver, they are probably number two for silver, but they are the largest importer and not an ounce leaves their shores.”
“I think precious metals are one thing everyone should own, five to 10 percent of their portfolio. Everyone says it, but nobody does it. Do it! right now. The national debt is $21 trillion, and with everything going on around the world, you want to own some gold.
What about the correlation between gold and Bitcoin investing
DA: “All the people who introduced me to Bitcoin in 2011 and 2012, they were all from the gold community – every single one of them. So there is a strong correlation in that. What people are looking for is money out of the banking system, or some way to transfer funds without the government or the banks interfering. Whether people know it or not, you can’t take more than $5,000 out of the bank without the bank scrutinizing you or the bank submitting your info to the US government.”
“What attracts people to gold, over crypto, is that they are looking for that ultimate safety as it has that 5,000-year history and central banks are buying it, so it is still seen as money by the world elites.”
“As far as what attracts people to Bitcoin, some people have just said to hell with gold and I think they like Bitcoin because it is decentralised, it is digital, it can be stored on a USB drive, it is portable and it is also less manipulated in the sense that it is still a private market. Gold, on the other hand, has all sorts of government interference, and it is also on all these regulated exchanges, you have central banks leasing gold out, so who knows how much gold is out there! People love the integrity of Bitcoin versus gold because gold has so many governments have their hands in the cookie jar there.
Are people still hanging tight through the crypto bear market?
DA: “The average guy that got in on the bubble probably bought at over $10,000, even $5,000 if they were lucky, so they are probably still holding on, that is typically in their cycle because they don’t want to lock in the loss. But here is the interesting thing, the sophisticated Bitcoin enthusiast, they sold all their Bitcoin from $5,000 up, they all put it in ICOs, and those ICOs blew up on them, and they went to zero.”
“I literally have people calling me, those people who told me about Bitcoin at $1, are now calling me to borrow $1,500 because they all lost their money. The Bitcoin market has to have some time; it needs to sort itself out; it needs a year or two.”
Author: Darryn Pollock
