In this article we discuss the 10 biggest cryptocurrency predictions in 2021. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of these predictions, go directly to the 5 Biggest Cryptocurrency Predictions in 2021.
Cryptocurrencies have widely been hailed as the future of finance across the globe but the price volatility surrounding these digital offerings still makes them risky investments. For example, after registering record increases over a period spanning more than twelve months, Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, fell from around $64,000 in April to below $30,000 in the middle of May after social media speculation around coin mining, before recovering slightly to above $40,000, but has since fallen to $32,000 again.
The freefall was initiated when Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) chief Elon Musk took to Twitter to question the environmental impact that coin mining had on the globe. Musk is a world renowned tech mogul with a cult-like following in many countries, and his followers, which had until then been bullish on Bitcoin, started cashing out, leading to a chain reaction that ultimately ended up hurting many crypto-related stocks, including Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) itself. This fall came in tandem with a broader lull in the market around technology growth stocks.
As growth stock volatility stoked institutional concern, hedge fund managers, many of whom are bullish on companies that accept crypto transactions like Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) and Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), sought to ease the concerns, revealing their own holdings in cryptocurrencies and even buying up some crypto stocks at lower prices in anticipation of a crypto boom in the latter part of the year.
There is still a lot of uncertainty in the market surrounding cryptocurrencies in general. Amid all the high drama, financial experts, hedge fund managers, government officials, and even some of the founding members of popular digital currencies have recently appeared on news platforms, spoken at conferences, and engaged with their followers on social media to predict the future of the crypto industry and provide some much-needed context to the conversations around crypto and fintech and their power as disruptors of traditional finance.
There is no doubt that the finance world is evolving around new technology. The entire hedge fund industry is feeling the reverberations of the changing financial landscape. Its reputation has been tarnished in the last decade, during which its hedged returns couldn’t keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. On the other hand, Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 124 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and February 26th 2021 our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 197.2%, vs. 72.4% for the SPY. Our stock picks outperformed the market by more than 124 percentage points (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that significantly underperformed the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 13% through November 16th. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox.
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With this context in mind, here is our list of the 10 biggest cryptocurrency predictions in 2021. We mentioned predictions, important statements, analysis and forecasts by famous experts about cryptocurrencies.
Biggest Cryptocurrency Predictions in 2021
10. Jed McCaleb, CTO Stellar
Prediction: Blockchain Will Change How Money is Moved Around the World
Jed McCaleb is the chief technology officer of the Stellar cryptocurrency, a digital currency that is developing a name for itself by offering expertise in enterprise-level crypto transactions. Stellar has partnered with popular companies like International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) to facilitate cheaper and quicker cross border money transactions.
While announcing the partnership between Stellar and International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) back in 2017, Jed McCaleb predicted that the new collaboration represented a significant milestone for Stellar as well as the financial technology industry as a whole. He added that blockchain tech was being used to facilitate cross-border payments.
Predicting the future of the crypto industry, he noted that once fully scaled by International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM), the new technology could potentially change the way money was moved around the world. Stellar has competition in the enterprise crypto solutions market from Ripple, another cryptocurrency with low cross border transfer fees.
Just like Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP), and Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) is one of the top crypto stocks according to the 10 biggest cryptocurrency predictions in 2021.
9. Changpeng Zhao, CEO Binance
Prediction: Going to Take Years to Become a Decentralized Autonomous Organization
Changpeng Zhao is the CEO of Binacce, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, like Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN), that is the largest digital currency exchange in terms of trading volumes. The exchange also offers Binance Coin, a cryptocurrency used for transactions on the Binance platform. Zhao gave an interview to business news publication Bloomberg in April.
When asked about the future public listing of his exchange, following the blockbuster debut of Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN) on the stock market earlier this year, Zhao was adamant that the Binance exchange had no such plans, saying that his company was cash-sufficient and able to grow without help.
Binance is the chief rival of Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN), the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world in terms of value of transactions on their network. When pressed about his company being run by just software, Zhao said it was still possible for Binance to become a decentralized autonomous organization, but it was going to take a number of years.
Just like Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP), and Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN) is one of the top crypto stocks according to the 10 biggest cryptocurrency predictions in 2021.
8. Timothy Massad, Former Chairman Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Prediction: Disruptions In Stablecoin Value Could Wreak Havoc on Crypto
Timothy Massad is the former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and an expert on digital currencies. In an opinion piece for business news publication Bloomberg in May, Massad delved into a lot of detail about Tether, a cryptocurrency tied to the US dollar that companies like Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) have supported in the recent past.
Since Tether is tied to a stable fiat currency, it is much more stable in terms of price than other coins on the market, making it a suitable crypto candidate for Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA). In his Bloomberg piece, Massad elaborated how this key differentiation between Tether and other digital currencies would impact the wider crypto industry.
He likened the hypothetical fall in value of Tether to below $1 to the collapse of the Lehman Brothers before the 2008 financial crisis that even affected market giants like Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA). Massad wrote that disruptions in a stablecoin’s value could wreak havoc on the broader crypto market unless regulators step in.
Just like Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP), and Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is one of the top crypto stocks according to the 10 biggest cryptocurrency predictions in 2021.
7. Charles Hoskinson, CEO Input Output Hong Kong
Prediction: Cardano More Energy Efficient Than Bitcoin
Charles Hoskinson is the CEO of research firm Input Output Hong Kong and one of the founders of Cardano, a blockchain-based cryptocurrency that is not very different from the crypto coins used by big firms like DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) to widen the overall trust in digital currencies in the business world.
However, Cardano is different from the digital coins accepted by DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) as it is more energy efficient than the other currencies, a point that Hoskinson raised in an interview with business news publication Forbes in April. The founder of Cardano said that his currency was 1.6 million times more energy efficient than Bitcoin.
The overall strain that mining coins puts on the environment has put firms like DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) under pressure to switch to energy efficient options, resulting in a dramatic fall in value of cryptocurrencies that are energy intensive or do not use clean energy solutions for mining.
Just like Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP), and Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) is one of the top crypto stocks according to the 10 biggest cryptocurrency predictions in 2021.
6. Brian Kelly, CEO BKCM LLC
Prediction: Use Cases Will Increase Value of Bitcoin Cash Like Other Cryptocurrencies
Brian Kelly is the CEO of BKCM LLC and one of the earliest proponents for the wider adoption of Bitcoin Cash, a Bitcoin spinoff mined using powerful computer hardware marketed by companies like NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA). Bitcoin cash offers several advantages over Bitcoin, including faster transaction speeds.
However, the market has been slow in catching up to the untapped potential of Bitcoin Cash, much like the undervalued visual computing power of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) chips. Kelly, a veteran financial expert, believes that value can only be added to new cryptocurrencies by increasing their use cases.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA), by making its hardware more adaptable, has successfully become a top computer hardware firm through this strategy. In an interview with business news publication CNBC a couple of years ago, Kelly called Bitcoin Cash a must have cryptocurrency based on news around the setup of a Bitcoin Cash Development Fund.
Just like Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP), and Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) is one of the top crypto stocks according to the 10 biggest cryptocurrency predictions in 2021.
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Disclosure: None. 10 Biggest Cryptocurrency Predictions in 2021 is originally published on Insider Monkey.
