Ryan Rasmussen, a researcher at Bitwise, shared the company's predictions for the cryptocurrency market in 2024. Here are the important takeaways from the company's own words:
- Bitcoin is predicted to reach an all-time high, trading above $80,000. This will be driven by two major catalysts: the expected launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF in early 2024 and the halving of new BTC supply in late April.
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs are expected to be approved and collectively become the most successful ETF launch of all time. Within five years, Bitwise says spot BTC ETFs will be able to capture 1% of the $7.2 trillion US ETF market, or $72 billion in total assets.
- Coinbase's revenue is expected to double, beating Wall Street expectations by at least 10 times. This is due to the expected increase in trading volumes during bull markets and the appeal of the wide range of new products launched by Coinbase.
- It is expected that more money will be paid using stablecoin than using Visa. Stablecoins, one of the “killer apps” of cryptocurrencies, have grown from zero to a $137 billion market in the last four years, with 2024 expected to be another year of major growth.
- As Wall Street prepares to tokenize real-world assets, JPMorgan is expected to tokenize a fund and launch it on-chain. This will enable them to benefit from the efficiencies that on-chain assets can offer as they enter a market whose growth is exploding.
- Ethereum revenue is expected to more than double to $5 billion as users flock to crypto apps. In 2023, users paid $2.3 billion in fees to use Ethereum. This figure is expected to at least double by 2024, making Ethereum one of the fastest-growing large-scale technology platforms in the world.
- Taylor Swift is expected to launch NFTs to connect with her fans. Spotify, where Swift is the most streamed artist in 2023 with more than 26 billion streams, is testing token-gated playlists that require listeners to have a certain NFT to listen.
- AI assistants are expected to start using cryptocurrencies to make online payments, confirming crypto as the “native currency of the internet.” It is believed that AI assistants will prefer digitally native currencies such as BTC or stablecoins, and this is expected to start happening in 2024.
- More than $100 million is expected to be invested in prediction markets, which will emerge as a new “killer app” for crypto.
- A major update to Ethereum is expected to bring the average transaction cost below $0.01. EIP-4844 can lead to over 90% reduction in the cost of using Ethereum. This update is expected to pave the way for the first truly mainstream applications in cryptocurrencies.
- By the end of 2024, 1 in 4 financial advisors are expected to allocate space to crypto in their client accounts. This is expected to happen once Bitcoin becomes easily accessible.
*This is not investment advice.