As the adoption of cryptocurrencies into the economies of the world continues, and prices also continue to rise, the cryptocurrency market is maturing, and Bitcoin is on its way to becoming the world's digital gold, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Despite lagging behind gold, Bitcoin will most likely outstrip the precious metal by the end of the year. Since the beginning of the year, Bitcoin has fallen by about 2%, while gold has risen by almost 6%.
In his April outlook, Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone said that Bitcoin's price trajectory remains in an upward trend due to the declining supply of the cryptocurrency and growing adoption of the cryptocurrency. And that, most likely, bitcoin is approaching $100,000.
According to McGlone, it is unlikely that Bitcoin will stumble or be prevented from getting ahead of gold. And the reduction in supply, if the rules of the economy are applied, contributes to the increase in the price of cryptocurrency.
New coins are limited to 900 a day by code until 2024, then they will be halved. In 2020, the supply was halved, from 1800 coins per day.
What sets Bitcoin apart is its 21 million Bitcoin limit, with 90% of those already mined. Bitcoin reached a new milestone last week, with records showing that 19 million Bitcoins have been minted so far.
The next halving is expected to take place in May 2024. And based on the halving schedule, the last Bitcoin is predicted to be mined in 2140.
The geopolitical situation in Ukraine could be an important moment for Bitcoin and the level of volatility. At around 5x the 260-day volatility of gold, Bitcoin's relative risk declines and compares to similar peaks of around 10x in 2018 and 12x in 2011.
Most of the signs point to higher Bitcoin prices in the near term.