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A “Positive” Influencer Feb 15 23 “Mainstream Wall-Street Investors” Share Their Predictions About The Fate Of Bitcoin Over The Next Five Years Recently, we ran a series in Buzzfeed and ThriveGlobal interviewing more than 75 Cryptocurrency experts about the fate of Bitcoin over the next 5 years. Understandably most of their answers were very bullish about Crypto. I then turned to Wall-street investors and analyst to share their predictions about Cryptocurrency. Their answers might surprise you. Jillian Manus, Structure Capital My Wall Street Background “ Jillian Manus is an experienced banking and media executive, a technology investor and entrepreneur. She is the Managing Partner of Structure Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology companies.

In her role with Structure Capital, Jillian provides strategic support to founding teams focused on creating value in underutilized assets and excess capacity.

She serves on the boards of several of her portfolio companies, including Hyp3r, Iggbo, and Liquiglide. More Info. about Structure Capital: Invests in seed and early-stage companies, 140 total Portfolio includes Uber (first-round investor), Salesforce (early investor), among others. Structure Capital isn’t explicitly focused on funding underrepresented entrepreneurs, 30% of its portfolio is comprised of female founders as compared to 7% in the industry as a whole. Created and built companies that have been acquired for hundreds of millions of dollars.

” My Predictions About the Fate of Bitcoin Over the Next 5 Years “Unregulated investing opportunities, like initial coin offerings, may prove a risky prospect for entrepreneurs — but that doesn’t mean that all bitcoin-related products are bad. It’s dangerous, it’s very dangerous. On one hand, we want to be supportive of this, because this gives opportunities, definitely, to fuel new companies. But on the other hand, there’s a lot of irresponsibilities that go with this.

There’s a lot of fraud that’s being created. Initial coin offerings are just one of many applications being tested for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. In an initial coin offering, investors are given a token of digital currency in exchange for their investment. ICOs — if they’re based on just a white paper, and they’re just raised on that — then that’s a problem and that’s a scam. But on the other hand, if they have SEC filings, if they have [due diligence] packages, if there’s some product that we can invest in — then I think that’s an interesting opportunity.” Jordan French, editorial staff at TheStreet.com My Wall Street Background “Jordan French is a freelance multimedia journalist who covers finance and technology. An engineer and former enforcement attorney at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, he is the cofounder of five companies, earning recognition from Inc.

, CIO magazine and Forbes for his work in entrepreneurship. The cofounder of BeeHex, the NASA originated 3D food printing company, he spends his spare time writing and tending to the hens at Lisbon Hill Farms, a cage-free egg farm in New Hampshire. “ My Predictions About the Fate of Bitcoin Over the Next 5 Years “What we do know is that cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin in particular are maturing into an asset class that behaves as a “”safe harbor”” against inflation, technological uncertainty, and macroeconomic uncertainty. Like gold and other precious metals, Bitcoin shows the characteristics and trading patterns of a “”safe haven”” asset.

Less likely is the advancement of cryptocurrencies as a wholesale replacement for fiat currencies. The most interesting displacement opportunities are appearing in geographies with distressed local currencies, including Venezuela, Yemen, San Marino, Central African Republic and Puerto Rico.

More narrowly, unbanked populations in countries with significant gaps in GDP per capita — for example, Brazil — show the beginnings of substitution but many hurdles remain. The nascent derivatives market around most cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, will continue to mature. Higher quoted prices for Bitcoin are, frankly, a near certainty, as demand appears to outstrip supply, bid and ask spreads remain wide and the opportunities for various forms of self dealing and single-party trading, short-selling abuses, and other fraud remain present.” Ric Edelman, Founder and Executive Chairman, Edelman Financial Services Aaron Clamage My Wall Street Background “Ric Edelman, founder and executive chairman of Edelman Financial Services, is widely regarded as one of the top financial advisors in the field. He was ranked the nation’s #1 Independent Financial Advisor three times by Barron’s and was named among the country’s Top Wealth Advisors by Forbes magazine in 2017.

Ric is also the 2017 recipient of the IARFC’s Loren Dunton Memorial Award, a lifetime achievement award for his substantial contributions to the financial services profession and the financial interests of the public, and was named one of the “”10 most influential figures”” in the advisory field by RIABiz in 2013. Ric is an award-winning radio and television personality and a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His ninth book, The Truth About Your Future, was published in March and became an instant New York Times Best Seller. Ric is an inductee of the Financial Advisor Hall of Fame, sponsored by Research magazine, a Distinguished Lecturer at Rowan University, a resident expert for Dr. Oz and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Personal Finance.

” My Predictions About the Fate of Bitcoin Over the Next 5 Years There is no question that digital currency is the future, and Bitcoin is currently the dominant one. But the technology is still under development. So it is impossible to say whether Bitcoin will survive as the coin of choice, or whether it will be replaced by another coin — perhaps one yet to be introduced. Remember that Visicalc and Lotus123 were once the dominant spreadsheet programs, and both lost to Excel. Even if Bitcoin survives, no one yet knows what the value of each coin will be.

For these reasons, anyone buying bitcoins should do so with the understanding that they need to hold their coins for years, and be prepared for them to become worthless. Elliott Pretcher, head of computer analysis at Elliott Wave International My Wall Street Background Elliott Prechter’s fascination with technology led him to attend MIT in 2002 and ultimately to join Microsoft in 2006. His interest in financial markets intensified during the 2008 real estate crash, and he left Seattle and Microsoft in early 2011 to help start an algorithmic hedge fund in Las Vegas.

In late 2012, he joined Elliott Wave International, where he now serves as head of computer analysis, developing the EWAVES artificial intelligence system for Elliott Wave Analysis. Elliott also writes the open-access publication, EWAVES Flash, which discusses trading theory and updates readers on program developments. My Predictions About the Fate of Bitcoin Over the Next 5 Years “My article in the September 2010 The Elliott Wave Theorist (I can send the article) was strongly optimistic on Bitcoin at a time when it was trading at 6 cents. Elliott Wave International was the only financial firm in the world to cover Bitcoin at that nascent stage. Few people knew what Bitcoin was; fewer cared. Bitcoin for pennies turned out to be the greatest buying opportunity of all time.

Today the psychological landscape is inverted. The price explosion and attendant manic sentiment have dwarfed the South Sea Bubble, the Canal manias of the 1830s, and even the Tulip mania of 400 years ago.

Bitcoin’s rise has spawned 1400+ clones, most of which are high-tech, pump-and-dump schemes, which investors have eagerly bid up. Dogecoin, for example, is a swiftly cobbled-together Bitcoin clone. Its innovation? Changing the icon to a dog. Yet its market cap hit a recent high of $2 billion.

Bitcoin was lean and mean in 2010, but today its monolithic blockchain has hit a scalability wall. It’s so unusable that business adoption has declined for the past two years. The emperor is wearing no clothes, yet people have been selling their houses and accumulating debt to buy coins at record high prices. The crypto-bust has already begun.

Bitcoin’s collapse from $20,000 (touched on December 17, 2017) should be even wilder than its ride up from 6 cents. Bitcoin prices will eventually head back to triple digits or lower, and most alt-coins will go to zero.

EWI’s cryptocurrency Pro Service will provide real-time forecasts along the way. As with electronics in 1929 and the internet in 1999, the bust will not deter the bright future for cryptocurrency. Technical hurdles will eventually yield now that we know that decentralized, uncensorable voluntary monetary systems are possible. There’s no going back.

Walter Pehowich, EVP Investment Services, Dillon Gage Metals My Wall Street Background “Walter Pehowich serves Dillon Gage Metals as a Senior Vice-President, Precious Metals Investment Services. Pehowich has over four decades of precious metals investment service experience. He began his career at Bache in 1977, as part of their commodity accounting department. He was quickly promoted to the retail trading desk of the precious metals trading department. Walter remained at Bache through a series of acquisitions. In 1981 they were acquired by Prudential Financial to form Prudential-Bache Securities. A decade later, the firm was renamed Prudential Securities.

And finally, in 2011, the firm was acquired by Jefferies Bache, becoming Jefferies Investment Bank. While at Jefferies, Mr. Pehowich managed a variety of investment and commercial grade precious metal products.

Pehowich holds a Series 3 Securities license, authorizing him to sell alternative investments in commodities and futures contracts. Pehowich is based in New York City.” My Predictions About the Fate of Bitcoin Over the Next 5 Years “What does the future hold for Bitcoin in the next five years? Just ask some big names in the financial industry about their views on Bitcoin and you will seemingly get the same answer from them all. Jamie Diamond calls it a fraud.

Warren Buffet calls it a mirage. Morgan Stanley recently said that the Bitcoin’s real value might be zero. It doesn’t matter what you call it, a currency, a commodity or just a product, the mere fact that you can trade it gives it value. One can argue that Bitcoin represents an “”intangible”” product. If that’s the case, why does the CBOE and CME exchanges give Bitcoin a value? Nonetheless, it seems like the cryptocurrency craze will continue. Many say the real money to be made are by the ones who can create their own digital currencies and bring them to the market. It seems everyone is looking for the next Bitcoin and that is where the problems will begin to develop — too many lookalike products that saturate the market.

I expect that over the next few years, when these new products emerge, the government will have to regulate them somehow and this action will ultimately crush the little guy holding these unknown digital currencies.

Our government cannot continue to ignore these products, especially without knowing who’s conducting these transactions. So in the meantime, if you have a stomach for volatility and are willing to risk all your money with these kinds of investments, understand that the financial guys didn’t get to where they are today by buying and selling so-called “”intangible”” assets. Buckle up for a rough ride.

Mitch Steves, Equity Analyst, RBC Capital Markets My Wall Street Background Mitch Steves is an analyst at RBC primarily focused on Networking Equipment and SMID-Cap Semiconductor companies.

In 2016, he was noted as a “Rising Star of Wall Street Research” according to Institutional Investor Magazine in three categories Telecom & Networking Equipment, Semiconductors and IT Hardware/EMS. He started at RBC in 2011 and launched coverage in the second half of 2015. Prior to this he held positions at Gleacher and Company covering Hardware and Networking equipment and worked as an Investment Banker at Cowen and Company. He holds an Economics degree from the University of California Berkeley My Predictions About the Fate of Bitcoin Over the Next 5 Years “While the cryptocurrency space has many risks, the opportunity appears vast with constant technology updates.

By utilizing decentralized computing and open-source software, a multi-trillion dollar market can emerge for cryptocurrencies. Applications like Bitcoin could create the next generation of the internet or a decentralized world computer without a third-part intermediary. If there’s one positive item we can agree on, it’s that the blockchain has never been hacked. What happens if we build on top of this secure layer? However, this decentralized future comes with risks.

A majority of storage systems for Bitcoin are hackable and governments have no incentive to catch a criminal who is stealing a currency that they do not back. Computers are already being hacked to steal compute power and smartphones could be next. Public display of transactions reduces privacy, making all transactions transparent. There is also a risk of large scale manipulation to approve malicious forks or price manipulation of a coin. Cryptocurrencies have a potential to create a multi-trillion dollar market, but we must be aware of the risks that could affect this market at any given time. Trevor Koverko My Wall Street Background “Prior to Polymath, Trevor Koverko is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, blockchain speaker, and cryptocurrency investor. Trevor founded eProf.com, an online education platform, and Digital Assets International, a leading tech private equity firm.

Trevor graduated from Canada’s leading business school, Ivey, and was formerly a National Hockey League draft pick of New York Rangers in 2005. In 2015, Trevor’s Oculus Rift-based project became the world’s first VR exit. He has since invested in dozens of ICOs and was an original advisor/investor to the $30 billion USD Ethereum project.” My Predictions About the Fate of Bitcoin Over the Next 5 Years “Bitcoin is currently used as a speculative investment and store of value like gold. But when scaling solutions such as the Lightning Network emerge, the benefits of Bitcoin increase dramatically along with its price. Ove the next 5 years, I expect bitcoin to begin to function as it was origionally intended to based on Satoshi’s whitepaper: As a medium of exchange. In other words, it will become money not just gold.

Consumer and business will use bitcoin to buy things and transact; not just speculate with.

This means bitcoin will emerge as a payment network and begin to compete with VISA and the US Dollar. And the market cap will start with the letter T.” John R. Sarson, Managing Partner, Blockchain Momentum, LP My Wall Street Background “John R. Sarson is Managing Partner for Blockchain Momentum, LP. John graduated with a B.A in History from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to founding Blockchain Momentum, LP, John was Regional Vice President of Guggenheim Partners.

He also led financial advisor education and distribution in New York City and surrounding areas. John’s experience and training with quantitative strategies comes from previous employers; BNY Mellon, Lord Abbett & Co, and Claymore Securities. “ My Predictions About the Fate of Bitcoin Over the Next 5 Years “We believe Asia-news-weary investors have underreacted to Mitsubishi Bank’s epic announcement to launch, custody, and trade digital currencies. There are few financial sectors in the world that act more conservatively or deliberately than the one in Japan, and Mitsubishi bank, Japan’s largest bank, just made 4 huge bets on the long-term existence and viability of digital currencies.

These announcements will have enormous impact on South Korean legislators and financial institutions.

South Korea is now left with essentially no choice except to follow Japan’s lead and fully commit to embracing digital currencies or else risk sacrificing their countries banking sector on the altar of indecision/over regulation. The prohibition of digital currencies- which had been so badly spooking the markets- is no longer a viable outcome. Traditional banks around the world will spend 2018 and 2019 assimilating digital currencies into their stable of regulated financial assets.

Doing so should spur demand for Bitcoin and other digital assets well beyond today’s prices. $100,000 Bitcoin in five years is easily achievable IF it remains the most prominent and demanded among all digital currencies. We recommend investors hold full positions in Bitcoin and other large cap cryptocurrencies. Jonathan Johnson, President of Medici Ventures and Overstock.

com Board Member My Wall Street Background “Jonathan Johnson is president of Medici Ventures, Overstock’s subsidiary that oversees a portfolio of blockchain technology and fintech businesses, which include tZERO, and investments in Bitt.com, PeerNova, ripio, factom, SettleMint, IdentityMind SpeedRoute, FusionIQ, Blue Ocean, Spera, and Symbiont. In this role, Johnson is responsible for continuing Medici Ventures’ efforts to pioneer growth and innovation in applying the blockchain to financial systems and beyond. Under Johnson’s leadership, Medici Ventures has invested in several cutting-edge blockchain technology firms, successfully completed the world’s first blockchain-based stock offering on its tZERO platform, and was a featured presenter at the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s prestigious Global FinTech Hackcelerator.

Johnson is also a member of Overstock.com’s board of directors, and served as the chairman of Overstock’s board of directors from 2014 to 2017, transitioning to the position after five years as the company’s president, and later, as the acting CEO and executive vice chairman of the board. Johnson joined Overstock in 2002 as the company’s general counsel, and has held various business and legal-related “ My Predictions About the Fate of Bitcoin Over the Next 5 Years “In the next five years, I think it likely bitcoin will become the de facto global currency.

No longer will the world quote the price of a barrel of oil or the value of the Euro is terms of U.S. Dollars, but in bitcoin (or some fraction of a bitcoin). Governments will be issuing digital fiat currencies. This will accelerate the adoption of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Billions of people who are today unbanked, and thus not now equal participants in the global and digital economies, will be transacting with each other in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using digital wallets.” James Dowd, Founder/Managing Director, North Capital Private Securities My Wall Street Background “James Dowd is Founder and Managing Director of North Capital Private Securities (NCPS), a registered broker-dealer focused on the distribution of exempt securities; North Capital Investment Technology (NCIT), which provides technology for the financial services industry; and North Capital Inc.

, a registered investment advisor. NCPS is the broker-dealer for many securities funding platforms in the seed equity, real estate, private fund and cryptosecurities markets. Prior to forming North Capital, Mr. Dowd, who has 33 years of experience in the global financial markets, was a Senior Managing Director and Head of the Hedge Fund Advisory and Fund of Funds Team at Bear Stearns. Before Bear, Mr. Dowd was responsible for arbitrage strategies at Tokai Asia Ltd.

in Hong Kong. He previously spent nine years with Bankers Trust in New York, London and Tokyo, where he was Managing Director and Head of Derivatives Trading for Asia and a Partner of Bankers Trust.

Mr. Dowd began his career with Samuel Montagu Capital Markets Inc.

, a boutique investment bank. Mr. Dowd earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Foreign Service, majoring in international economics, finance and commerce. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a CPA.

On the boards of several privately held companies, he also is a founding trustee of the Young Women’s Choral Projects of San Francisco.” My Predictions About the Fate of Bitcoin Over the Next 5 Years I was a Bitcoin bear.

I wrote the following words to a business partner in February 2014: North Capital “does not want to get involved with Bitcoin at this time, and probably never, unless there is way to track the origin of money flows and authenticate original sources of funds.” What a dope! Had I taken the time to dive deep into the technology underpinning Bitcoin, my personal aha moment would have come almost three years earlier than it eventually did, and I might have directed our team to try to solve this “source of funds” problem and go after the opportunity offered by crypto digital assets. Bitcoin has grown up since then. Its value has increased by 20x, and it is now more easily traded than most fiat currencies. Many early Bitcoin adopters have moved on to other blockchain systems that are proving superior to Bitcoin for certain applications.

For example, my business is focused on the transaction, clearing and custody of securities, an activity for which the Ethereum blockchain is ideally suited. I believe the use of Ethereum will explode, but success will not come at the expense of Bitcoin. With a market capitalization of $200 billion, crypto investors today use Bitcoin as a store of value, like gold or silver. Bitcoin has value because it has a finite supply and is useful. Could the price collapse? It certainly could.

If investors lose confidence in the cryptocurrency, or if a better technology comes along, demand would decline and the price would fall. But Bitcoin has been very resilient, enduring major fraud and theft among some market participants, without undermining investor confidence. I therefore believe that Bitcoin will continue to appreciate, albeit at a more modest pace, and with continued extreme volatility along the way. Scott Amyx, Managing Partner at Amyx Ventures My Wall Street Background Scott Amyx is the author of Strive: How Doing the Things Most Uncomfortable Leads to Success, which has been endorsed by Forbes, Singularity University, Tribeca Film Festival and other influencers. He is a global thought leader and venture capitalist who has appeared on TV, TIME, Forbes, NYT, TechCrunch, CIO, Washington Post, Wired, Forrester, G20 report and other major media.