인디펜던트 보도에 따르면 영국의 페퍼 캐피탈(Pfeffer Capital)의 존 페퍼(John Pfeffer)가 뉴욕서 열린 손 인베스트먼트 콘퍼런스(Sohn investment conference)에서 비트코인이 모든 면에서 금보다 낫고, 70만달러까지 가치가 오를 것이라고 말했다. 이 콘퍼런스는 투자 가치가 있는 최고의 주식을 추천하는 곳으로 정평이 나 있는 행사로 가상화폐가 추천된 것은 이번이 처음이다.
페퍼는 "비트코인이 전 세계에서 금을 대체할 수 있는 최초의 후보다"라며 "비트코인이 지배적 인 비주권 가치 저장소가 된다면, 새로운 금 또는 새로운 예비통화가 될 수 있다"고 말했다. 하지만 비트코인 이외의 코인에 대해선 좋지 않은 베팅이라고 덧붙였다.
가상화폐가 여전히 실질적인 위험을 앉고 있긴 하지만, 금보다 유용성이 뛰어나, 통화가 안정적이지 않은 국가에 비트코인이 합법적인 대안을 제공할 수 있다고 피력했다.
제시 코헨(Jesse Cohen) 인베스팅닷컴 애널리스트는 채굴 비용이 저렴한 동유럽 국가들은 전쟁과 경기 침체를 겪으며 지난 10~15년 사이 통화가 폭락하는 것을 겪으며 더욱 디지털 통화의 붐을 이끌고 있다고 밝혔다.
BITCOIN WILL REPLACE GOLD AND SOAR IN PRICE TO $700,000, SAYS MAJOR INVESTOR
Bitcoin is better than gold “on every front” and could eventually be worth around $700,000, according to an institutional investor.
John Pfeffer, a partner at UK-based Pfeffer Capital, made the remarks at the Sohn investment conference in New York. That event traditionally serves as a place for investors to recommend the best stocks to invest in – and has never seen anyone recommend cryptocurrency before.
“Bitcoin is the first viable candidate to replace gold the world has ever seen,” Mr Pfeffer said. "So if bitcoin becomes the dominant non-sovereign store of value, it could be the new gold, or new reserve currency."
He added: “Most [other] crypto assets out there are bad bets.”
The fund manager also warned that there were “substantial risks” still associated with cryptocurrencies, however unlike gold their utility went far beyond a store of value.
In countries with struggling currency, bitcoin and other digital currencies could offer a legitimate alternative. This supports recent research from Investing.com that found countries with unstable economies were increasingly interested in cryptocurrency.
By taking a percentage of users from each country that used its cryptocurrency services, the investment website determined that the top five countries most interested in cryptocurrency are Venezuela, Kosovo, Lithuania, Belarus and Georgia.
“In addition to cheap [cryptocurrency] mining costs, another thing that the Eastern European countries which appear on this list have in common is that all have gone through prolonged periods of war and recession recently, which has resulted in the poor working class losing trust in government and banks,” Jesse Cohen, a senior analyst at Investing.com, said in an emailed statement to The Independent.
“Another factor that could be aiding the crypto boom in these countries is that all of them at some point in the past 10 to 15 years have experienced a currency crash. Such a devastating experience has led both old and young traders to seek out cryptoes as hedges against another failed currency episode.”
