Since November 5, the day President-elect Donald Trump secured another term in office, Bitcoin has experienced a remarkable uptrend, reaching a new all-time high of $93,300. 

Since then, BTC has been trading within a narrow range between $89,000 and $92,000, positioning for a potential move toward the $100,000 milestone. This raises an intriguing question whether a price of $1 million per coin is feasible over the next decade.

A Long-Term Vision For Investors

Market expert VirtualBacon has conducted an in-depth analysis of these possibilities, delving into the numbers, trends, and catalysts that could propel Bitcoin to experience a surge of nearly 1,000% from its current price levels. 

Within the current market cycle, the expert forecasts that Bitcoin could hit $200,000 in the next one to two years. However, he notes that while this milestone is significant, altcoins may offer higher returns at a greater risk, often crashing by 80% to 90% in bear markets.

In contrast to altcoins, which face increasing regulatory scrutiny, Bitcoin stands out as a safer long-term investment. VirtualBacon argues that Bitcoin’s potential is not just confined to the next few years but spans a decade or more. 

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To understand why Bitcoin’s price could reach $1 million, VirtualBacon asserts that investors need to consider its fundamental utility as a store of value. Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million coins, its global accessibility, and its resistance to censorship and manipulation make it a compelling alternative to traditional financial assets. 

The expert suggests that if Bitcoin is to become recognized as the digital gold of the 21st century, reaching a market capitalization that rivals gold’s estimated $13 trillion is not merely a theoretical possibility but “a logical outcome.”

Key drivers for this potential growth include increasing participation from asset managers, corporate treasuries, central banks, and wealthy individuals. Recent data indicates that Bitcoin ETFs have seen record inflows, with $1 billion invested last week, reflecting growing institutional confidence. 

Additionally, discussions among corporations, such as Microsoft considering Bitcoin reserves, further enhance its strategic value. Wealthy individuals are also beginning to adopt Bitcoin as a standard portfolio allocation, with even a modest 1% investment becoming commonplace among billionaires.

What Does Bitcoin Need To Reach $1 Million?

For Bitcoin to reach the $1 million mark, two critical factors must be analyzed: global wealth growth and portfolio allocation. VirtualBacon notes that in 2022, total global wealth was estimated at $454 trillion, and projections suggest this could grow to $750 trillion by 2034. 

Currently, gold holds approximately 3.9% of global wealth, while Bitcoin is at a mere 0.35%. If Bitcoin’s allocation in global portfolios rose to just 3%, still significantly below gold’s share, its market cap could soar to $20 trillion, pushing the price to $1 million per coin.

Historically, gold’s market cap saw significant growth following the launch of exchange-traded funds in 2004, with its portfolio allocation increasing from 1.67% to 4.74% over the next decade. 

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If Bitcoin follows a similar trajectory, its allocation could rise from 0.35% to 1.05% or more, translating to a market cap of approximately $7.92 trillion, equating to about $395,000 per Bitcoin. Therefore, reaching $1 million doesn’t require Bitcoin to surpass gold; it must capture about 57% of gold’s projected market cap by 2034.

With gold representing 4.7% of global portfolios compared to Bitcoin’s 0.35%, a modest increase in Bitcoin’s share of global wealth to 3%—just 60% of gold’s allocation—could “easily” result in a $20 trillion market cap and a $1 million price point.

At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $92,240, up 7% every week. 

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com 

Crypto ETF issuer and asset manager BlackRock announced on Wednesday the expansion of its USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) to include five new blockchain ecosystems: Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, and Polygon. 

Initially launched on the Ethereum network in March 2024, BUIDL rapidly gained traction among investors, becoming the largest tokenized fund globally regarding assets under management (AUM) within just 40 days.

BNY Mellon To Custody BUIDL

The expansion will allow BUIDL to interact with more blockchain-based financial products and infrastructures. BlackRock aims to enhance accessibility for investors, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and digital asset firms, enabling them to leverage BUIDL within the ecosystems of their choice.

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Carlos Domingo, CEO and co-founder of Securitize, the firm responsible for tokenizing BUIDL, emphasized the importance of this multi-chain approach in Wednesday’s press release by saying: 

Real-world asset tokenization is scaling, and we’re excited to have these blockchains added to increase the potential of the BUIDL ecosystem. With these new chains we’ll start to see more investors looking to leverage the underlying technology to increase efficiencies on all the things that until now have been hard to do.

With the addition of these blockchains, BlackRock aims to provide increased options and access for investors, allowing developers to build applications that integrate seamlessly with the BUIDL fund.

BNY Mellon, which recently received a Bitcoin and crypto custody license for institutional services, will play a key role in this initiative as the fund administrator and custodian for BUIDL. 

BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Achieves Unprecedented Growth

On the crypto ETF front, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, has reached a remarkable milestone, surpassing the $40 billion mark in assets under management (AUM) just two weeks after hitting $30 billion. 

This achievement comes in a record 211 days, shattering the previous record of 1,253 days held by the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG). 

IBIT is now positioned in the top 1% of all ETFs by assets and at just 10 months old, it has outperformed all 2,800 ETFs launched in the past decade, according to ETF expert Eric Balchunas.

Balchunas further highlighted that Bitcoin ETFs collectively have crossed the $90 billion asset threshold, following a significant $6 billion surge in the past few days. 

This increase comprises $1 billion in new inflows and $5 billion in market appreciation. The growing popularity of Bitcoin ETFs indicates that they are now 72% of the way toward surpassing gold ETFs in total assets.

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The rise in Bitcoin ETF assets has coincided with a surge in investor confidence, particularly following Donald Trump’s recent victory over Kamala Harris in the presidential elections. 

This political shift has positively influenced market sentiment, contributing to a broader uptick in cryptocurrency prices. Bitcoin, in particular, has experienced a substantial rally, climbing over 24% to reach a record high of $93,000 in the past week alone.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com