- Ark Invest's Cathie Wood said the price of Bitcoin could soar nearly 33 times to $1.5 million by 2030.
- “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O'Leary said that would only happen if the U.S. economy collapsed.
- O'Leary predicted that Bitcoin would outperform the S&P 500 and rise to $250,000 over the next 10 years.
Cathie Wood's bullish case for Bitcoin is that the price will soar nearly 33 times to $1.5 million by 2030. That only happens if there is an economic catastrophe, says Kevin O'Leary.
The technology evangelist and CEO of Ark Investments made a shocking prediction this week after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved his and other companies' Spot Bitcoin ETF for the first time. The decision was hailed by crypto enthusiasts as an important step towards mainstream adoption of the token.
In an interview with CoinDesk, O'Leary dismissed Wood's most optimistic price targets as unrealistic unless something else happens.
“That's not a good guess because actually locking in prices that high would mean, in my view, that the American economy has collapsed,” said “Shark Tank” investor and chairman of O'Leary Ventures. Stated. He said that because Bitcoin acts as a hedge against the global economy, its price would only explode if a major disaster occurs.
“For Bitcoin to rise to that price so quickly would mean that the U.S. economy has slumped in some way,” he said. “No, I cannot agree to that price.”
Still, O'Leary predicted that the price of Bitcoin will at least triple from its current price of about $46,000 to between $150,000 and $250,000 by 2030, outperforming the S&P 500 over the next five years. Mr. Wood's bear case for the most valuable cryptocurrency is that she will be worth $250,000 by 2030, while her base case is that she will be worth more than $680,000.
O'Leary (nicknamed “Mr. Wonderful”) welcomed the SEC's decision. He said Bitcoin's profits will increase over the next few years as it paves the way for Bitcoin to be listed on a regulated exchange in the United States, allowing sovereign wealth funds and other large financial institutions to invest in Bitcoin. He said it could increase significantly.
The veteran investor, who previously fronted Sam Bankman Freed's bankrupt FTX, has secured a direct stake in Canada's WonderFi and an indirect stake in M2, which was founded in Abu Dhabi last year. He said he is betting that this will lead to wider acceptance of cryptocurrencies.
“I would like to own a pickaxe and shovel of cryptocurrencies, but they are regulated exchanges,” he said.