Although Bitcoin (BTC) has been moving in a largely sideways pattern for the past several weeks, some observers have noted that there was a possibility that the flagship decentralized finance (DeFi) asset could eventually reach the coveted price of $1 million, making everyone who held at least one wholecoin significantly rich(er).
Indeed, some of the sector’s most famous investors, including Michael Saylor’s business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, which has purchased over 12,000 Bitcoin during the second quarter of 2023, are willing to bet that the maiden cryptocurrency will continue to grow its price, eventually culminating at $1 million, and Finbold has analyzed the factors that could lead to this result.
Continued halvings
One factor that has continuously stood out for its major role in Bitcoin’s price movements is its halving, i.e., the algorithmic event that cuts the previous reward for mining this Proof-of-Work (PoW) crypto in half, thus reducing the amount of BTC in circulation and increasing demand which, in turn, drives the price up. As it happens, Bitcoin has entered the final phase before its fourth halving earlier in May 2023.
Indeed, the crypto community expects the next halving event for Bitcoin to take place in May 2024, and multiple crypto trading experts have voiced their opinion that the price of the maiden digital asset will surely skyrocket during that time, with pseudonymous analyst PlanB discussing several pricing models that could give it room to grow toward $1 million.
Increased institutional adoption
Following the unexpected change in stance from Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), toward Bitcoin, doing a 360 from claiming that clients had “zero interest” in crypto assets to openly embracing Bitcoin and becoming its enthusiastic supporter, the institutional interest in it has become more apparent.
Specifically, BlackRock’s surprise application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in June has encouraged multiple other companies to follow the asset manager’s example, starting a chain of Bitcoin ETF filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and triggering a massive Bitcoin price increase, which billionaire Mike Novogratz identified as a turning point.
Wider acceptance as payment method
At the same time, as Bitcoin becomes a more accepted payment method around the world, with increasingly more e-commerce and brick-and-mortar businesses introducing the option to pay via crypto for their products and/or services, and more Bitcoin ATMs springing in all corners of the globe, the increased acceptance could also drive up the demand for the cryptocurrency.
Specifically, according to the statistics by the crypto ATM analytics platform Coin ATM Radar, there were 36,316 crypto ATMs and 236,756 other Bitcoin-to-cash and cash-to-Bitcoin service providers in 71 countries around the world, produced by 46 Bitcoin ATM manufacturers and installed by 515 Bitcoin machine operators, recording a continuous increase in installations.
Favorable regulatory environment
Furthermore, governments and regulators becoming more open and favorable towards Bitcoin, as evident in the example of the United Kindom’s financial services minister, Andrew Griffith, rejecting the Treasury Committee’s recommendation to regulate retail trading and investing in crypto as gambling, could also help drive up the price.
Another example of a crypto-friendly environment is Malta, an island country that has used cryptocurrencies for the longest time among all others, with several bills to make it the global leader in crypto regulation, and leading Binance, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, to choose it over Japan, as it considered it more favorable than the East Asian country.
Economic situation
Finally, amid a global economic crisis, many people could turn to Bitcoin as a safe haven asset, including Robert Kiyosaki, a renowned investor and author of the best-selling personal finance book ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad,’ who has recently strongly criticized the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) over the claims that the US economy was strong.
As more preferable assets to fiat money, particularly the US dollar, the finance educator has long advised his followers to buy gold, silver, and Bitcoin to survive the looming major financial depression and stock market crash, as well as predicting that the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization would hit $120,000 next year.
Bitcoin price analysis
Meanwhile, Bitcoin was at press time changing hands at the price of $29,467, recording an increase of 1.76% on the day and gaining 0.88% across the previous week, whereas, on its monthly chart, it has witnessed a decline of 3.83%, according to the information retrieved on August 2.
All things considered, when and if Bitcoin truly manages to reach the whopping price of $1 million is impossible to say but could depend on the above factors, either acting alone or coming together. Ultimately, the forces of supply and demand will be the ones to determine the actual price of the representative digital asset.
Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.
