Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse speaks at the 2022 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, USA.
Mike Black | Reuters
The CEO of blockchain startup Ripple predicts that the total market value of the cryptocurrency market will exceed $5 trillion this year.
Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse told CNBC that he expects the overall cryptocurrency market to double in value, citing macro factors including the arrival of the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States and the upcoming so-called Bitcoin “depreciation”. Half”. “
“I’ve been in this industry for a long time and I’ve seen these trends come and go,” Garlinghouse told CNBC. “I’m very optimistic. I think the macro trends, the big picture like ETFs, they’re happening for the first time Push for real institutional funding.”
“You’re going to see this drive demand, but at the same time, demand is increasing and supply is decreasing,” Garlinghouse said. “It doesn’t take an economics major to tell you that when supply contracts and demand expands what happens.”
On January 10, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States. They trade on U.S. stock exchanges, allowing institutional and retail investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without directly owning the underlying asset.
The Bitcoin halving is a technical event that occurs approximately every four years in Bitcoin’s history. It halved the total mining rewards for Bitcoin miners, who are volunteers on the Bitcoin network who use high-powered computers to verify transactions and mint new coins.
The last such event took place in 2020, and the next one is expected to take place later this month.
“It’s easy to predict that by the end of this year, the overall market capitalization of the cryptocurrency industry will double… (because of) all these macro factors,” Garlinghouse said.
As of April 4, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization was approximately $2.6 trillion. If the market doubled, it would mean the total new cryptocurrency market cap would reach $5.2 trillion.
Bitcoin is up more than 140% in the past 12 months.
On March 13, it hit an all-time high of over $73,000, according to CoinGecko. However, it has since moved well below the $70,000 level.
The world’s digital currency has been the main coin driving gains in the broader market.
As of April 1, Bitcoin accounted for approximately 49% of the entire cryptocurrency market, with a market capitalization of $1.3 trillion.
Positive signs for U.S. cryptocurrency regulation
One of the other factors Garlinghouse sees pushing the cryptocurrency market to new highs is the potential for positive regulatory momentum in the United States.
This is an election year, and cryptocurrency hopefuls are optimistic that the next administration’s policy priorities will be more aligned with the cryptocurrency industry.
The SEC, under Chairman Gary Gensler, has been aggressive in enforcing cryptocurrency companies, including Ripple itself.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a securities lawsuit against Ripple, accusing it of illegally selling XRP, a cryptocurrency closely related to Ripple, in an unregistered securities exchange. Ripple denies the claims and is fighting the lawsuit.
“Really, one thing I would say about the macro tailwinds for the industry is: I think we’re going to get more clarity in the U.S.,” Garlinghouse said.
“The United States is still the largest economy in the world, and unfortunately it has been one of the most hostile crypto markets. I think that will start to change as well.”
Garlinghouse isn’t the only cryptocurrency bull predicting a massive rise in the cryptocurrency market this year.
Marshall Beard, chief operating officer of U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, recently told CNBC at a cryptocurrency conference in London that he expects the price of Bitcoin to rise to $150,000 later this year.
“Everything has grown so fast this year, there’s a lot of activity, a lot of adoption, new regulations, ETFs, halvings, miners needing to exit,” Beard told CNBC.
“You’re going to see a lot of volatility up and down until we get to an all-time high, which I think is going to be $150,000,” Beard added. “That could happen this year. I think it’s going so fast… and I think this momentum, the supply shock, it’s moving very quickly.”
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