- Geoffrey Kendrick sees bitcoin and ethereum hitting $100,000 and $10,000 this yr, respectively.
- Normal Chartered’s head of crypto analysis thinks ethereum may someday hit $35,000.
- Kendrick additionally mentioned two altcoins he believed had been promising.
Cryptocurrencies look remarkably just like know-how shares within the late Nineteen Nineties, mentioned Geoffrey Kendrick, the pinnacle of crypto analysis at Normal Chartered, the fifth-largest bank in the UK.
However that is truly factor, Kendrick instructed Insider in a latest interview — despite the fact that he was effectively conscious that the notorious tech bubble of 2000 ultimately popped.
“I am not utilizing that as a result of in 2000 tech blew up,” Kendrick instructed Insider. “However quite to say the scale of the market, the event of the market, was comparable.”
Kendrick continued: “We actually have not seen the acute worth motion and participation that we noticed in tech then. So I am pondering extra in regards to the variety of customers. And there are very direct crossovers between the variety of customers of crypto belongings, addresses, and the variety of customers of the web in 1999. It truly stacks up when it comes to share of world inhabitants nearly precisely.”
A crypto growth that does not finish in a bust could be a welcome improvement for traders within the area after what’s been a dismal yr thus far for digital belongings. Bitcoin and ethereum, the 2 largest tokens by market capitalization, are down 18% and 23% yr to this point, respectively. However Kendrick is targeted on an extended timeline.
“If we fast-forward 5 or 10 years, there is a very, very constructive backdrop right here,” Kendrick mentioned. “And the use instances in issues like ethereum, for instance, have not actually even performed out but in any respect. So my backdrop could be very, very optimistic.”
So optimistic, in reality, that Kendrick’s 2022 worth targets for bitcoin and ethereum are $100,000 and $10,000, respectively — which suggests upside of about 150% and 250% for these cryptos. Kendrick confirmed to Insider that in the long run, he nonetheless believed ethereum may rise greater than tenfold to $35,000, a worth goal that Reuters first reported in September 2021.
“There’s been quite a few market commentators which can be saying that, like in earlier bitcoin halving cycles, we’re now entering into the second half of that, and — in earlier cycles — that has been a bearish sign,” Kendrick mentioned. “I disagree with that logic.”
How bitcoin and ethereum will get to the moon
Normal Chartered’s head of crypto analysis is assured that bitcoin and ethereum “have very completely different drivers” than in earlier buying and selling cycles, which is why he thinks they will rebound this yr.
Maybe crucial catalyst for bitcoin and ethereum, Kendrick mentioned, is that so-called smart money is flowing into the cryptos regardless of their huge drawdowns since final November. That wasn’t the case within the late 2010s, he mentioned.
“Institutional cash is coming and has continued to come back regardless of the sell-off, which clearly, at its most aggressive, was greater than 50% in bitcoin and ethereum,” Kendrick mentioned. “In order that, for me, says, ‘This time is completely different.'”
Bitcoin may attain the higher finish of Kendrick’s worth prediction if the token ultimately grew to become a globally acknowledged retailer of worth that accounted for about 2% of the world’s belongings, the analysis head mentioned. However first, the crypto should proceed to assist financial institution the unbanked and develop right into a “real peer-to-peer transaction answer,” Kendrick mentioned.
In the meantime, Kendrick mentioned that ethereum ought to profit from an upcoming community improve that consultants have dubbed “the merge.” The occasion, which is about to cut back the variety of new ether tokens that enter circulation, is essential for the crypto market and should result in a wave of recent funding, Kendrick mentioned. After that, he mentioned, ethereum could take the title of prime token.
“I think that opens up the medium-term risk of ethereum’s valuation overtaking bitcoin,” Kendrick mentioned. “For that, you’d must get — so my end-of-year targets are $100,000 and $10,000, which is a 10-to-1 — you must get to about 16% of worth, which I think is the place we go in 2023.”
2 ‘ethereum killers’ to observe
Apart from bitcoin and ethereum, Kendrick mentioned he had his eye on two altcoins specifically: polkadot (DOT) and avalanche (AVAX). These two so-called “ethereum killers” are nonetheless value contemplating as ethereum’s merge nears, Kendrick mentioned, including that traders could wish to “be bullish on one thing which does not do precisely what ethereum does.”
Polkadot, which is a multichain protocol that goals to attach completely different blockchains, is widespread partly as a result of it was based by Gavin Wooden, ethereum’s cocreator, Kendrick mentioned. The crypto analysis head mentioned he is optimistic on parachains because the ethereum merge takes place.
“Polkadot most likely stands out for me when it comes to layer ones as a possible beneficiary medium time period, given its form of core use case of making linkages between chains,” Kendrick mentioned. “That is most likely, when it comes to the highest 10 or 20 in dimension of layer ones, could be my No. 1 selection.”
Avalanche will get extra of a cautious suggestion from Kendrick, provided that it is thought of to be a direct competitor to ethereum. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that the 2 tokens do not need to be mutually unique, as a crypto investor can personal each.
“I truly do fairly like avalanche,” Kendrick mentioned. “I think that it may — when it comes to being an identical factor to ethereum — truly, avalanche I believe can probably do OK anyway. As an example post-ethereum merge, it is form of like a mini-me model.”
