Bitcoin Could Hit $300,000 In Five Years Even Without Institutional Adoption – Forbes

Bitcoin bulls are currently out in force, talking up the cryptocurrency amid unprecedented central bank stimulus and quantitative easing.

The bitcoin price, which has failed to hold its ground over $10,000 per bitcoin in recent weeks, has climbed some 30% since the beginning of the yearbut remains far from its all-time highs (for the time being).

Now, crypto pioneer Adam Back has predicted bitcoin will soar to $300,000 per bitcoin within the next five years, even without Wall Street's highly-anticipated institutional support.

The bitcoin price has struggled in recent weeks after a strong start to the year with the bitcoin ... [+] rally hitting a brick wall at $10,000 per bitcoin.

"[Bitcoin] might not require additional institutional adoption [to reach $300,000] because the current environment is causing more individuals to think about hedging [and] retaining value when theres a lot of money printing in the world," Back told financial newswire Bloomberg.

Last month, bitcoin got a big boost when legendary macro investor Paul Tudor Jones revealed he is buying bitcoin as a hedge against the inflation he sees coming as a result of never-before-seen levels of central bank money-printing.

"It is causing people to think about the value of money and looking for ways to preserve money," Back said, adding "its a difficult environment to get any yield."

Back, a cryptographer who invented a system of verification used by bitcoin called Hashcash, was again forced to deny he's bitcoin's mysterious creator Satoshi Nakamoto after fresh claims last month.

Earlier this year, Back said "hyperbitcoinization" and "Modern Monetary Theory rationale for high inflation" could, in theory, mean bitcoin is one day worth $10 million.

"$100,000 bitcoin doesn't seem so far given we already crossed $10,000 threshold a few times when few expected even $1,000 some years back and $10,000 seemed crazy," Back said via Twitter.

Meanwhile, long-expected institutional adoption of bitcoin is still looking precarious despite some early signs Wall Street is coming around to crypto.

JPMorgan, once described as "bitcoin's biggest enemy," has added its first crypto exchange customers and its chief executive Jamie Dimon reportedly hosted secret meetings with the boss of major bitcoin and crypto exchange, Coinbase.

Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs poured cold water on bitcoin and cryptocurrency community hopes the Wall Street giant was about to dive into crypto last month in a highly critical investor call.

The bitcoin price has slumped since last year with early signs of another bitcoin bull run halted by ... [+] the coronavirus crash in March.

Back's latest bitcoin price prediction comes as Donald Trump's administration weighs another massive round of stimulus measurespotentially adding a further $1 trillion.

Already this year the U.S. has signed off on $3.5 trillion in relief measures to combat the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns put in place to contain the virus.

The stimulus measures, as well as the Fed moving to backstop financial markets, have meant stocks and shares resumed their march higher after a historic crash in March.

Bitcoin has also rebounded but has failed to breach recent highs set in February.

Bitcoin has been put further into contrast with fiat currency by a supply squeeze last month, which saw the number of bitcoin rewarded to those that maintain the bitcoin network, called miners, cut by halfdropping from 12.5 bitcoin to 6.25.

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Bitcoin Could Hit $300,000 In Five Years Even Without Institutional Adoption - Forbes