Crypto's crystal ball

Forecasting the future of any asset class is a tricky endeavor—and few investments are quite as volatile as crypto.

But if there’s one thing 2024 has taught us, it's that digital assets are resilient.

There’s palpable optimism among industry bulls, who are welcoming a more friendly regulatory environment, a fresh record for crypto's chief blue-chip token, and an ever-growing sea of nonsensical memecoins.

So, what will the next year bring?

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan and Head of Research Ryan Rasmussen outlined their 10 very bullish predictions for the next year, some of which include:

• Bitcoin will start trading above $200,000, and ethereum and solana will also break records.
• Coinbase will be added to the S&P 500 index, while Microstrategy will join the Nasdaq 100. The second one was actually already proven correct earlier this month: The Nasdaq announced that MicroStrategy is joining the index and will also now be included in the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF.
• In fact, Coinbase will become the most valuable brokerage in the world, surpassing Charles Schwab.
• The number of nations that hold bitcoin will double.

Matthew Sigel, Head of Digital Assets Research at asset manager VanEck also unveiled his firm’s 10 predictions for the next year, including:

• The price of bitcoin will set a new record in Q1, before retreating and then hitting an even greater record high in Q4.
• Either the federal government or at least one US state will establish a bitcoin reserve.
• There will be over 1 million new AI bots that use or promote blockchain technology.

Keep in mind: These predictions are from bitcoin bulls. The scale can tip the other way, too: When bitcoin broke the $60,000 mark in November 2021, it then dipped into a brutal bear market. The price didn’t fully recover again until March of this year.

That’s why even pro-crypto financial advisors only recommend allocating a small percentage (less than 5%) of your portfolio to crypto.—LB