The year 2021 might go down in history as being one of the most significant for the growth of cryptocurrencies, as the industry finally broke out into the mainstream with skyrocketing adoption and acceptance. Understandably, this had led many financial experts to paint an even more bullish narrative for the year ahead.
Among them is Bloomberg’s market expert Eddie van der Walt, who believes crypto has now become “part of the financial furniture.” In a recent interview, the analyst noted that the perception regarding digital assets has seen a positive reversal during this time. Regarding why this might have happened, he said,
“We’ve now got ETFs, we have IPOs in the space, and futures contracts that are fairly liquid… There’s now a financial infrastructure out there that has made it open to institutional investors and they have taken on Bitcoin.”
It’s true that over the past couple of years, many big players have entered the ecosystem, followed by financial institutions rushing to cater to their demands. By August last year, 55% of the world’s 100 biggest banks by assets under management were investing directly or indirectly in companies and projects related to digital currencies and blockchain.
These factors could end up being catalysts for future growth of the market according to to the expert, who added,
“I think last year was a real breakthrough and that sets up a very interesting future for cryptocurrencies.”
Top banking institution Goldman Sachs appears to share some of Walt’s bullishness, as its top executive has predicted Bitcoin to reach its much anticipated $100,000 price target in the next few years.
In a research note to clients, head of foreign exchange strategy Zach Pandl based this hypothesis on the top digital asset’s ability to snag off gold’s market share as a ‘store of value.’ Recently, the institution also released its return scorecard for benchmark and thematic equity baskets, which revealed that Bitcoin had beat all capital markets in 2021 in terms of yearly price growth.
The digital asset returned a strong 60%, beating crude oil by a 5% margin. Notably, gold’s annual return stood at only 4%, further cementing Pandl’s claim.
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