In an interview with Yahoo Finance’s “Wealth,” Ric Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals and $291 billion asset manager Edelman Financial Services, provided a striking forecast for the Bitcoin price. Edelman argued that Bitcoin’s price could surge to $420,000, attributing this potential rise to a modest global asset allocation towards Bitcoin.

Why Bitcoin Price Will Reach $420,000

During the interview, Edelman delved into the advantages of investing in Spot Bitcoin ETFs. He noted that these instruments make Bitcoin accessible in the same way as traditional ETFs, which are commonplace and familiar to investors using ordinary brokerage accounts.

“They’re incredibly inexpensive, 20-25 basis points cheaper than going to say Coinbase or other crypto exchange and being in a brokerage account, you can rebalance, you can dollar cost average, you can tax loss harvest,” Edelman highlighted. This setup simplifies the investment process, making it akin to managing any other asset class, thus broadening its appeal to a wider audience.

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However, Edelman was also candid about the challenges and risks associated with Bitcoin. Despite the advantages offered by ETFs, the inherent nature of Bitcoin as a volatile and risky investment persists. “It’s still Bitcoin, which means it’s still very volatile, it’s still very risky. You could still lose everything,” he cautioned.

Edelman pointed to ongoing regulatory uncertainty, potential lawsuits, and prevalent fraud as significant risks that investors need to manage cautiously. He also criticized the trend of investing due to fear of missing out (FOMO), labeling it as a poor investment rationale.

Looking ahead, Edelman discussed the regulatory landscape, particularly concerning other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum. He noted that there are several applications pending for Ethereum ETFs, and while he anticipates initial rejections, approvals could follow by year’s end.

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“After you have the Bitcoin ETFs and the Ethereum ETFs, I’m not sure how quickly you’ll see anything else after that, but these two will kind of open the doors long term. Five years from now, there will be dozens, perhaps even hundreds of crypto ETFs,” Edelman speculated. This perspective underscores a significant shift towards mainstream acceptance and integration of cryptocurrencies into traditional financial products.

Edelman’s prediction of Bitcoin reaching $420,000 is based on an assumption of global asset diversification. By his calculations, if all global asset holders allocated just 1% of their assets to Bitcoin, this would translate to a market cap of $7.4 trillion for Bitcoin alone.

“It’s remarkably simple. If you take a look at the world’s global assets, the value of the stock market, globally, the bond market, the real estate market, the gold market, you just look at all the assets everybody in the world owns, it’s about $740 trillion,” he explained. Such an allocation would dramatically increase Bitcoin’s market cap, driving its price up significantly.

Moreover, Edelman highlighted a shift in the perception of Bitcoin from a transactional currency to a store of value, similar to gold. “The use case of Bitcoin, although it’s strong for transmittal, is not the strongest argument. It’s now like gold, a store of value,” he stated. This perception shift has attracted more institutional investors, who view Bitcoin as a hedge or an alternative asset class, akin to other non-traditional investments like artwork or collectibles.

At press time, BTC traded at $61,909.

Featured image from Wealth Management, chart from TradingView.com