If you’re into cryptocurrency, there’s a chance you like to gamble. After all, every digital asset’s price is something of a gamble, and through the efforts of Ledger X, you can now bet on the chances of bitcoin reaching $100,000 by the end of 2020.
Get the Pot Going for Bitcoin!
To say this has been a rough week for bitcoin would be something of an understatement. The currency has lost roughly one quarter of its overall value following scrutiny from President Donald Trump, who announced in a recent series of tweets that he wasn’t a fan of bitcoin or cryptocurrencies as they “weren’t real money” and their values were based on “thin air.”
In addition, Facebook’s new Libra cryptocurrency is now being questioned by members of Congress given the social media company’s less-than-stellar reputation following the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018.
Despite all this, many analysts predict that the coverage is good for bitcoin and will potentially launch it deeper into mainstream territory. Tom Lee of Fundstrat fame, for example, recently predicted that bitcoin could shoot as high as $40,000 by the end of the year thanks to President’s Trump further exposure of the coin.
Some are so confident that bitcoin will reach new heights within the next year-and-a-half that Ledger X, a new U.S.-regulated derivatives exchange, is allowing its customers to bet on the currency’s price between now and December of 2020. Users can bet for or against the idea that the currency will reach a $100,000 price by that time. Those who guess correctly will divide the final pot amongst themselves.
If bitcoin does reach $100,000 within the allotted time, the currency’s market cap would be at an even $2 trillion and stand as one of the most prominent assets available to investors. At press time, it is one of the few derivatives being offered to players in the retail market, though many institutional investors – with assets between $10 million and $1 billion – have also shown interest in the project.
Many of Us Don’t See This as a Big Deal
In a recent interview, chief executive officer of Ledger X Paul Chou explained:
Often what happens is the first trade is the most important, and everybody else watches it… Dozens and dozens of these institutions got back to us saying we’d be interested in trading a contract like this. I understand $100,000 is a large number, but a lot of us who’ve been in this space remember bitcoin at one dollar, then it hit ten dollars, and $100 and then $10,000. A $100,000 contract doesn’t even make us blink.
Institutional players are emerging in droves to play in the crypto space. Recently, derivatives exchanges like CME Group and Bit MEX claimed that institutional players were “driving trading volumes to records.” In addition, organizations like the Intercontinental Exchange are planning to begin their testing processes of bitcoin beginning on July 22.
