The crypto market is on an upward run. This comes from a time when the market had struggled through the month of September following the heightened China crypto crackdown and other environmental concerns being raised. Bitcoin has since recovered to trade at around $55,000.
According to Billionaire Chatham Palihapitiya, this bullish Bitcoin run will likely keep on. He has since revealed that he has invested hundreds of millions into Bitcoin and plans to keep putting in more.
Speaking to CNBC, the billionaire has emphasised the increasing relevance of Bitcoin as it edges gold. He says, “It’s very hard for me sitting here to give you a [bitcoin] price prediction, but I can pretty confidently say that bitcoin, I think, has effectively replaced gold. And it will continue to do so. And so that market cap is just going to grow.”
While Bitcoin might have become an integral medium of exchange, it still faces various regulatory concerns. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair, Gary Gensler has raised concerns that the crypto market is rife with fraud. Ray Dalio has also claimed that the regulators might find a way to kill Bitcoin if it becomes successful. Palihapitiya, however, believes it’s tough to impose a blanket ban on digital currencies. He doesn’t think anyone can kill or curtail Bitcoin if it becomes successful.
“I think it’s very hard to kill,” Chatham said. “So technically, it’s very difficult. Just the way that it’s architected, it is the most profound iteration of the internet that we’ve seen.”
Palihapitiya is a renowned venture capitalist having founded Social Capital in 2011. He has recently grown his stakes in crypto marketing earning the moniker SPAC king for supporting a number of alternative investment options. Even though he likes other crypto projects like Solana, he keeps most of his investments in crypto in Bitcoin.
Palihapitiya has been a vocal Bitcoin enthusiast for a long time. He at one time even predicted that Bitcoin would hit $200,000, with a market cap of over $4 trillion.
Crypto as a new version of the internet
Google and Facebook were the dominant forces in the first two versions of the internet. They have created and organised everything about the internet as it is right now. It now seems as if blockchain technology through decentralised finance (Defi) and crypto are launching a new version of the internet through web 3.0.
Palihapitiya feels the third version is building a new internet without an obvious leader. It is an entirely peer-to-peer development that is both scary and exhilarating.
Palihapitiya started investing in cryptos in 2012, during its early days. He has since been studying them for the whole period and considers himself a “huge intellectual bull” in the crypto space. By voicing his support for digital currencies it gives it needed credibility which spurs investor confidence in the crypto market.