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The market value of crypto could nearly double to $5T by the end of the year, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said Monday, thanks to persistent demand in recently approved spot bitcoin (BTC-USD) exchange-traded funds as well as the upcoming bitcoin halving event.
The overall crypto market cap stood at $2.7T at the time of writing, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Almost three-quarters of that figure represents the combined market value of bitcoin (BTC-USD) and ether (ETH-USD). Both tokens have shot up so far this year, with BTC surging 63% YTD, currently inches away from its all-time high reached last month.
“I’ve been around this industry for a long time, and I’ve seen these trends come and go,” Garlinghouse told CNBC in an interview. “I’m very optimistic. I think the macro trends, the big-picture things like the ETFs, they’re driving for the first time real institutional money.”
The halving, due later this month, ultimately reduces the supply of new bitcoins (BTC-USD) entering the market, a move that could drive up the coin’s price should demand remain constant or rise. This will be the first halving in which institutions and retail investors have access to U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs, approved on Jan. 10, to gain exposure to bitcoin without having to invest directly in the underlying asset.
“That doesn’t take an economics major to tell you what happens when supply contracts and demand expands.” Garlinghouse said, as quoted by CNBC.
Also stoking the crypto market this year, the Ripple boss said he is optimistic that crypto regulation in the U.S. will become clearer and more accommodating. “The U.S. is still the largest economy in the world, and it’s unfortunately been one of the more hostile crypto markets. And I think that’s going to start to change, also.”
