2023 will be a great year for cryptocurrencies. Prices have rebounded from their 2022 lows, with major encryption assets such as Bitcoin and Solana up 128 per cent and 495 per cent respectively so far this year. Cryptocurrency stocks soared 138%. Some of the world's largest financial institutions, including BlackRock, Fidelity and Franklin Templeton, have made a lot of commitments to the market. But we see brighter things ahead. We recently gathered the Bitwise think tank to look forward to 2024. Our view: we believe we are at the forefront of the "mainstream era" of cryptocurrencies-the moment when cryptocurrencies emerge from the shadows and establish their place in the real world in the long run. What are we particularly excited about in 2024? In the next few pages, we list the most important predictions for the coming year. Please note: like all forecasts, these are not guarantees, but represent our wisest estimates. The future is complex and conditional, and whether these are exactly as written will depend on many complex factors. The following is not investment advice.
In 2023, Bitcoin outperformed all major asset classes, rising 128 per cent, compared with 21 per cent for the S & P 500, 12 per cent for gold and 2 per cent for bonds. We expect this trend to continue in 2024, with bitcoin trading prices exceeding $80000 and setting a new record. An all-time high. There are two main catalysts that will help us achieve this goal. The spot bitcoin ETF launch, expected in early 2024, is expected to usher in a wave of new capital from retail and institutional investors, leading to a rise in demand for Bitcoin. At the same time, the annual supply of new bitcoins will be halved after the next bitcoin is halved in April or May 2024. At current prices, this is equivalent to a reduction of $6.2 billion in the number of new bitcoins entering the market each year. More demand? A reduction in supply? You do the math.
ETF analysts at Bloomberg say there is a 90% chance that spot bitcoin ETF will be approved in early 2024. This is a pretty good opportunity! Of course, spot bitcoin ETF needs to do more than just launch. If ETF is to have a significant impact on the market, it must amass a large amount of assets. Our internal research suggests that spot bitcoin ETF could account for 1 per cent (or $72 billion) of the $7.2 trillion ETF market in the US within five years. Surprisingly, our forecast is lower than that of the public.
Wall Street expects Coinbase's revenue to grow 9 percent year-over-year, from $2.8 billion to $3.1 billion. This was too conservative. We think they'll at least double. Here are three things Wall Street lacks. First, the bull market. Bitcoin is up 128% this year. Historically, Coinbase's trading volume has surged in bull markets, and we expect to see this again. The second is innovation. Coinbase launched a range of new products-from perpetual futures to U.S. regulated futures contracts, a new Layer 2 blockchain (Base) and on-chain identities-all of which are showing real traction. Third, ETF. Coinbase is positioned as the primary custodian for most Bitcoin ETFs, providing another catalyst for the company. 4 If our forecast for cryptocurrency prices in 2024 is correct, doubling revenues should be achievable.
Stablecoins are one of the "killer apps" for cryptocurrencies, growing from virtually zero to a $137 billion market over the past four years. 5 With the return of the cryptocurrency bull market and the rapid expansion of stablecoin use into payments and remittances, we believe 2024 will be another significant year of growth. How many majors? We expect stablecoin settlement volume to exceed Visa. It may sound crazy, but they're closer than you think.
More than $5.5 billion of real-world assets (commodities, stocks, real estate, etc.) have been monetized on the blockchain. The Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) expects that figure to rise to $16 trillion by 2030. 6 J.P. Morgan, the world's largest bank, made its debut. They have been exploring blockchain technology for years and recently tested a tokenized portfolio on the Avalanche blockchain. These tests enable them to automate a large number of steps involved in the portfolio management process, including subscription, redemption, rebalancing, and so on. The introduction of a monetized fund in 2024 will allow JPMorgan to take advantage of the efficiency provided by the assets in the chain while entering an explosive growth market.
A common criticism of blockchains is that they have no cash flow. But the critics are wrong. It is true that Bitcoin does not generate cash flow in the traditional sense, but block chains such as Etay Fong can. Ethernet Fong functions like a global supercomputer, hosting thousands of encryption applications that people use every day. In order to use these applications, you must use Ethernet Square encrypted assets to pay for them. This is cash flow. By 2023, users will pay about $2.3 billion to use the ethernet network. We believe that as cryptographic applications become mainstream, this number will at least double by 2024, making Ethernet Fong one of the fastest growing large technology platforms in the world.
Taylor Swift (Taylor Swift)-arguably the most popular artist in the world-is known for his innovation and unique interaction with fans. She is also a staunch believer in the artist's ownership of music and monetization of music. NFT fully complies with this reputation and these principles. They provide a new medium for music artists to interact with fans, from providing exclusive access to concerts, experiences and new music to providing fans with partial ownership of their music through royalties. Major bands and artists from Snoop Dogg and Eminem to Kings of Leon and The Chainsmokers have embraced NFT in some way. A possibility? Spotify (Swift is the most streamed artist in 2023, with more than 26 billion streams) is experimenting with token-gated playlists that require listeners to have a specific NFT to listen to. Taylor Swift NFT? There's nothing more mainstream than that.
The biggest technological development of our generation comes from the combination of breakthroughs. "personal computer + Internet." "Mobile phone + camera + GPS." Wait. The same is true of future technology. The emergence of semi-autonomous artificial intelligence "agents" (you can direct digital assistants to perform specific tasks, such as changing flights or ordering new headphones, if it is inconvenient for you) is expected to be a decisive theme in 2024 and beyond. But without the ability to trade easily in the world, the ability of artificial intelligence agents will be limited. This is the opportunity for cryptocurrency to display its talents. We think artificial intelligence agents will prefer digital native currencies, such as bitcoin or stable coins. We think this will begin to happen on a small scale in 2024.
Want to bet on the presidential election? The rate of global warming? Or even the possibility that spot bitcoin ETF will be approved by January 15, 2024? You can. Just use Polymarket, a decentralized forecasting market. The forecasting market has been around for many years. Cryptocurrencies make them borderless and license-free and take them to a new level through functions such as automated identification of winners and losers as well as payments. We believe that the decentralized prediction market will become the new "killer application" of cryptocurrency, the main venue for event-based and more traditional sports-related bets. (note: as of December 4, the market's approval of spot bitcoin ETF before January 15 shows that the probability of "yes" is 73% and that of "no" is 27%. )
Many people believe that the approval of spot bitcoin ETF (assuming it happens) will be the biggest development in cryptocurrency in 2024. Another candidate is "EIP-4844", which is the technical name for the upcoming upgrade of the etherfang block chain. The main goal of EIP-4844 is to help reduce the average transaction cost of Ethernet Square. Currently, the average fee per transaction on a low-cost layer 2 blockchain is about $0.14. The upgrade could push it below $0.01. The cost of using ethernet will be reduced by more than 90%, which will fundamentally increase the types of activities that individuals can participate in on the network. All of a sudden, major product ideas such as micropayments, social media and big games will be possible. We think EIP-4844 will pave the way for the first truly mainstream application in the encryption field. It's a big deal.
Currently, the number of financial advisers allocated to cryptocurrencies in customer accounts is astonishingly small. Maybe it's because they don't believe that cryptocurrency is an asset class. Or, before ETF arrives, they may not be able to get bitcoin at all. But if the rise of cryptocurrencies from the ruins of 2022 proves anything, it is that cryptocurrencies will continue to exist. The world's largest financial institution clearly believes; we think it is only a matter of time before most financial advisers agree. If our prediction that the spot bitcoin ETF will be available early next year is accurate, every financial adviser in the United States will soon be able to configure Bitcoin with a few mouse clicks. As the old hurdles fade, more and more consultants will allocate cryptocurrencies to customers' accounts. We think at least 1/4 of financial advisers will do so by the end of 2024.