Kenetic Capital managing partner has said that he expects bitcoin to reach $50,000 by the end of 2018 as the cryptocurrency market becomes globally accepted.
Speaking on Bloomberg TV, Jehan Chu, said:
"I think we’re going to see $50,000 by the end of 2018 for bitcoin. I think with the one-two punch with the Cboe and CME I think the entire world is on watch now for what is to come and what the real liquidity that can enter this market will actually look like."
Chicago-based exchanges Cboe and CME are to launch their bitcoin futures contracts later this month, which are helping to boost the price of the market up to record highs. Just today, it was reported that the cryptocurrency had risen by 10 percent, nearing the $13,000 barrier.
Speaking about how digital currencies are perceived in Asia compared to the U.S., Chu argued that the Asian market is a lot more ‘nimbler’ than its counterpart, including that of China despite its crack down on initial coin offerings (ICOs) and domestic digital currency exchanges.
Interestingly, he stated:
"China is actually one of the fastest to adopt at an enterprising level blockchain technology."
He’s also of the opinion that efforts by the PBoC to develop its own cryptocurrency lends a lot of weight to the validity to digital currency at a sovereign level generally, adding:
"I think in 2018 we will see the first state-backed digital currency in one form or another and I bet you it will come from Asia."
When questioned as to whether South Korea has become interested in the cryptocurrency space because of North Korea and its use of bitcoin as a safe haven, Chu replied in the negative. According to him, South Korea is focusing on this space because ‘they have a culture of trading.’ As they are familiar with trading Forex and stocks, Chu thinks that trading in digital currencies makes for an easy transition.
"I’m not sure it has a lot to do with politics between the North and the South, but I do think that anywhere that you see a population which is comfortable with trading like Japan, like Korea, and even Hong Kong to a degree, and specially recreationally in China you’re going to see a lot of interest in cryptocurrency and I see that growing exponentially."
Billionaire hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz is another bullish individual on the price of bitcoin. Last month, he said that it could ‘easily‘ reach $40,000 by the end of 2018.