VanEck’s recent statement has sent ripples through the cryptocurrency market. The investment behemoth, which has launched a gold ETF and several crypto-based ones, has released a bold long-term Bitcoin price forecast, stating that BTC could reach $644,000 per coin after the next halving. This event is scheduled for April 2028.
The prediction was published by Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s Head of Digital Assets Research. He made that highly optimistic prediction based on several factors, including the recent price jump of gold.
Aside from VanEck, two other major experts have made bullish Bitcoin predictions. However, they were short-term ones and named a much more modest BTC price target.
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Bitcoin to $644,000, Matthew Sigel argues
Sigel tweeted that the world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, is likely to smash the $644,000 level after the next halving. By that time, he said, “Bitcoin should reach half of gold’s market cap.” He stated that BTC is largely overtaking gold when it comes to young investors, according to VanEck’s survey: “Younger consumers in emerging markets increasingly prefer Bitcoin for that role.”
Meanwhile, gold is more popular as a store of value rather than just enjoying demand in various industries and jewellery. “At today’s record gold price, that implies an equivalent value of $644,000 per BTC,” Sigel stressed.
Bitcoin halving is a programmed mechanism built in the BTC code by its mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. It was made to make Bitcoin deflationary, as it helps to reduce the amount of minted coins by half every four years. The previous halving took place on April 20, 2024. The next one is scheduled for 2028. Halvings make Bitcoin more scarce, which is a major factor in propelling its price upwards. The next halving will reduce every new block reward to 1.5625 BTC.
VanEck’s aforementioned forecast dwells on the same narrative that has been fueling institutional interest in Bitcoin – its scarcity and the monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve and Treasury Department.
While gold’s supply continues to increase by 1.5-2% every year, Bitcoin’s supply decreases steadily every four years steadily and after the next halving, the Bitcoin inflation level will drop below 0.5%. In this respect, Bitcoin beats gold on a large scale. Many Bitcoiners believe that BTC is not only a digital form of gold but that in the future it could become a superior form of it, while physical gold and fiat money continue to inflate.
Optimistic short-term BTC prediction
Meanwhile, Bitcoin price predictions for this year remain increasingly optimistic. Not only has Tim Draper predicted BTC to reach $250,000 by the end of this year. A Bitcoin analyst and a published BTC author, Timothy Peterson, has tweeted this week that he expects the flagship crypto to spike above the $140,000 level by the end of this month, October. He has offered his X readers a chart with an AI-made Bitcoin price forecast, stating that “half of Bitcoin’s October gains may have already happened.”
Typically, these bullish forecasts are based on similar factors – reduced exchange reserves, quickly increasing Bitcoin ETF inflows, and strong accumulation conducted by financial institutions, as well as treasury companies, such as Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and Metaplanet.
This week, both have announced new large BTC acquisitions, adding more Bitcoin to their stashes, which have been rising steadily this year. Besides, the market has been agile with bullish sentiment since now it is going through “Uptober” – historically, the Bitcoin price has been surging in this particular month over the past years, including 2024, when the Binance founder, CZ, came out of prison after serving his four-month sentence. This year, with a halving taking place a year before, “Uptober” is expected to give BTC much more powerful momentum than usual.
Another renowned Bitcoin supporter, Robert Kiyosaki, known as the author of the “Rich Dad Poor Dad” book, has also published a tweet this week, where he shared that he was planning to accumulate more gold, silver, and Bitcoin. However, recently, he began touting another large crypto, aside from BTC, Ethereum: “Adding to my gold, silver, Bitcoin, and Ethereum stack.” His main argument is that the US dollar has been losing its purchasing value rapidly. Therefore, he calls losers those who save up fiat currency – USD.
Kiyosaki has been constantly criticizing the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department for printing additional billions of US dollars since 2020. He, along with many other critics, has been pointing out that the dollar has been rapidly losing value due to the massive increase in the money supply. Kiyosaki also expects Bitcoin to surge to $150,000 – $200,000 this year, according to his earlier tweets.
