Cryptocurrency exists to enable us to conveniently make payments online, across borders, without having to bother about a third party gaining control over our whole transactional process. Nowadays, people use Bitcoin for all kinds of transactions, from purchasing online items to paying for services rendered online. Currently, there are 120+ stores worldwide already accepting the digital currency as a means of payment.
Since its inception on January 3rd, 2009, Bitcoin continues to surge in value, reaching an all-time high of $19,891 per Bitcoin in 2017. With this rapid growth came various predictions from many “so-called experts.” Let’s have a look at some of them.
Failed Bitcoin Predictions
One notable prediction that failed woefully is that of the so-called cryptocurrency expert “McAfee.”
In 2017, due to the sudden rise in demand for Bitcoin, its price surged, causing John McAfee, a well-known computer expert and founder of one of the best security software companies in the world to make a bold prediction on social media about its price. The following are a series of tweets that saw McAfee predict the cost of Bitcoin reaching $1 million and I quote:
“One single Bitcoin would be worth $500,000 in the next three years, and if not, I will eat my dick on national television.”
At that moment on July 17th 2017, the closing price for Bitcoin was around $2,244.27, according to Coindesk.
After a bullish run, McAfee later revised his bet by predicting that instead of $500,000, a single Bitcoin will skyrocket to $1 million by the end of 2020. Here is the tweet:
“When I predicted Bitcoin at $500,000 by the end of 2020, it used a model that predicted $5,000 at the end of 2017. Bitcoin has now accelerated much faster than my initial model assumptions, and for this reason, I predict Bitcoin to hit $1 million by the end of 2020. I will still eat my dick if I am wrong.”
When asked the reason for such a bold prediction, McAfee suggested that the scarcity of Bitcoin will play a significant role in its surge in value. According to McAfee, the total cap of available Bitcoins is 21 million, of which seven million is lost forever due to careless usage by early adopters. He also went further to explain that the death of Satoshi also contributed to another loss of a few more million Bitcoins. However, as 2020 drew closer, fans were beginning to call McAfee out to fulfill his promise, given that the current price of Bitcoin is nowhere near his initial predictions.
What McAfee did was to post a series of tweets, suggesting that his rash prediction was a joke and a way to bring new users to the Bitcoin bandwagon on board.
Although Bitcoin has the potential to reach its highest point again, there are still factors to consider before making an outlandish prediction regarding its price. In 2020 alone, its price has gone up by about 9.3%, settling near the $7,830 mark.
Conclusion
Due to widespread adoption, Bitcoin experienced a massive surge in value in 2017, causing experts and CEOs to predict its bullish growth toward outrageous figures. One such prediction that was heavily criticized was that made by McAfee, where he predicted Bitcoin to hit the $1 million mark and later backtracked on his words, after realizing that the cryptocurrency was never going to hit such heights.
This year alone, Bitcoin has experienced quite an increase from its initial price, showing signs that it might hit the figures of 2017, but not as predicted by McAfee.