Will this be the year that cryptocurrency’s market capitalization surpasses the $5 trillion mark?
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse seems to think so.
Speaking to CNBC Sunday (April 7), Garlinghouse said he expects the value of the crypto market to double in 2024, thanks to factors like the approval of the first U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETFs) and the upcoming “halving” of bitcoin.
“I’ve been around this industry for a long time, and I’ve seen these trends come and go,” Garlinghouse said. “I’m very optimistic. I think the macro trends, the big picture things like the ETFs, they’re driving for the first time real institutional money.”
“You’re seeing that drives demand, and at the same time demand is increasing, supply is decreasing,” he added. “That doesn’t take an economics major to tell you what happens when supply contracts and demand expands.”
As CNBC notes, bitcoin’s halving is something that happens every four years, an event in which the total mining reward given to bitcoin miners is divided in half. It is slated to happen later this month, the report said.
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In the case of ETFs, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved these funds in January, allowing institutions and retail investors to gain exposure to bitcoin without needing to own the assets.
Crypto enthusiasts called the approval a watershed moment for the digital currencies, though SEC Chairman Gary Gensler made it clear at the time of the approval that his position on bitcoin has not changed, saying it should not be taken as an indication that the regulator is ready to approve other listed securities.
“While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin,” Gensler said. “Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.”
Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote last month that as the crypto market is making a comeback — with bitcoin topping $70,000 and memecoins resurgent — so too has crypto crime.
A recent report from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) shows that Americans made more than 43,000 complaints about cryptocurrency scams last year, with losses to crypto-based frauds and scams rising to $3.9 billion, up 53% year over year.
“These scams are designed to entice those targeted with the promise of lucrative returns on their investments,” the FBI noted.