Another moonshot prediction for the price of bitcoin … today’s prices could seem like bargains … how elite altcoins could climb even higher
Mark Zuckerberg didn’t want to be punched in the face by a six-foot-five Olympian.
It’s 2008, and the Winklevoss twins are in mediation with Facebook founder, Zuckerberg.
You likely know the general story …
While undergrads at Harvard, the Winklevoss brothers had an idea for a way for Harvard students to connect — a social networking site initially called Harvard Connection, later renamed ConnectU.
They found Zuckerberg and tasked him with building the site. Instead, Zuckerberg morphed it into his own idea, called “TheFacebook.”
A handful of years later, Zuckerberg is a billionaire and the twins are pursuing legal action.
Back to mediation …
With progress going nowhere, the Winklevoss twins suggest a sit-down with Zuckerberg. No lawyers, no mediators, just the original parties.
Zuckerberg has tentatively agreed — but he has “security concerns.”
As the story goes, Zuckerberg is worried he’s going to be beaten up by the six-foot-five, barrel-chested Winklevoss twins — both of whom competed in the men’s pair rowing event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The solution?
A meeting with just one Winklevoss, in a glass conference room, with everyone else out in the hall, watching.
Absurd as it is, it works.
Zuckerberg offers a payoff of $65 million in cash. The Winklevoss’s lawyer is ecstatic and urges his clients to accept.
But in what would go down as possibly the Winklevoss’ second-smartest move of all-time, they instead negotiate a settlement of $20 million in cash, and the rest of the $65 million in Facebook stock.
The outcome of that decision?
According to the twins, that $45 million stock allocation went on to be worth close to $500 million.
Now, you might be wondering — if that’s the Winklevoss’ second-smartest decision, what’s the smartest?
Putting $11 million of that settlement into bitcoin back in 2013.
***What $11 million invested in bitcoin in 2013 means today
The Winklevoss twins were early believers in bitcoin. And they went on to become pioneers in the crypto world.
They launched Gemini, which is a private, licensed digital asset exchange where investors can trade bitcoin, Ether, or other popular altcoins … They’ve been trying to bring a bitcoin ETF to market for years, yet thwarted thus far by the SEC … And they launched Winklevoss Capital, which has invested in a number of crypto startup ventures.
But let’s circle back to the good stuff …
What was the outcome of that $11 million bitcoin investment in 2013, when bitcoin was trading at a single-digit price?
From Financial Times:
Starting in 2011 they bought up 1 per cent of all the bitcoin in circulation for a total of $11m.
By late 2017, with the price of the cryptocurrency surging past $10,000, they were worth a combined $2bn …
With bitcoin now flirting with $20,000, that puts the Winklevoss stake at nearly $4 billion.
But the twins believe bitcoin’s ascent — and their wealth — is nowhere near reaching its peak …
***On Monday, the Winklevoss twins predicted bitcoin will hit $500,000 per coin
Appearing on CNBC, they called for an eventual price of half-a-million dollars with a market cap of $9 trillion, though they didn’t predict when this may happen.
Part of the bullishness comes on the back of a weakening dollar.
From Tyler Winklevoss:
Cash is trash … and [high-profile investors] realize it … At some point, it is hard to look at those data points and say that bitcoin isn’t an incredible store of value
On this “cash is trash” note, we’ll add that inflation appears to be ticking up. Yesterday, Financial Times ran a piece titled “U.S. inflation expectations hit 18-month high on vaccine hopes.” And the U.S. Dollar Index is now at a multi-year low.
We’ll dive into more details on inflation in tomorrow’s Digest, but returning to bitcoin, the Winklevoss twins aren’t the only experts predicting huge gains from here. We recently profiled billionaire cryptocurrency-investor and former hedge-fund manager, Mike Novogratz, who pegged bitcoin at $65,000 next year.
Closer to home, our own crypto expert, Matt McCall, has his own prediction …
In a friendly wager with Louis Navellier about whether bitcoin or the Dow Jones Industrial Average will reach 40,000 first, Matt took bitcoin.
Keep in mind, this was back on July 31st, when bitcoin was trading under $11,500.
Given the crypto’s meteoric rise since, you have to give the edge to Matt at the moment (but not by much, given the strength of today’s stock market).
***But in all of this bitcoin hype, what’s being discussed less is the wealth-building potential of altcoins
For any newer Digest readers, altcoins are simply “alternative” cryptocurrencies beyond bitcoin.
Elite altcoins provide a unique twist on the crypto/blockchain/financial world that makes them truly unique and valuable.
They can also be explosive wealth-generators …
As just one example, take the altcoin, Ripple (XRP).
For much of the year, it traded for less than $0.25.
Until November …
As you can see below, on November 1, Ripple traded at $0.24. Just over three weeks later, it had tacked on roughly 185% gains, to $0.68.
So, how can a crypto investor distinguish between elite altcoins with major wealth-building potential versus the “me-too” coins which won’t amount to anything?
We’d recommend turning to Matt and Charlie Shrem — they’re the analysts behind Crypto Investor Network.
For newer Digest readers, Shrem — like the Winklevoss brothers — was one of bitcoin’s early adopters.
He was one of the founding members of the Bitcoin Foundation in 2012, which aimed at bringing mainstream awareness to the digital currency world.
In the years since, he’s advised and invested in more than two dozen digital currency companies, launched and managed numerous partnerships between crypto and non-crypto companies, and is now considered one of the most influential people in cryptocurrencies.
And yes, his early investments in bitcoin have made him a millionaire many, many times over.
***While bitcoin is getting the headlines today, Matt and Charlie believe there’s a bigger story with certain altcoins
In short, Matt and Charlie believe that we’re at the beginning of the next crypto surge — one that will take the strongest altcoins many times higher.
In a recent update to subscribers, Matt and Charlie noted that our broader culture is waking up to the fact that cryptocurrencies are one of the most valuable, revolutionary technologies ever created.
And as this awareness spreads, there will be an enormous rush into this asset class — something they call “The Awakening.”
From Matt:
This awakening could singlehandedly drive the price of bitcoin and several other select cryptocurrencies to never-before-seen heights.
If you position yourself correctly, it could hand you a fortune that you could only previously dream of.
Now, one perspective for investors who might be cautious about the altcoin universe …
Here in the Digest, we’ve written about something called an “asymmetrical bet.” In short, this is when the potential upside of a position is much greater than its potential downside.
In other words, there’s no symmetry in the risk-to-reward profile. Instead of risking ‘1″ to make “1,” you risk 1 to make, potentially, 5 … or 50 … or 200.
If that tradeoff sounds too good to be true, consider some of the historical returns we’ve seen from altcoins …
Back in 2012, Litecoin climbed 7,483% … in five months.
During the crypto peak of 2017, Ethereum posted cumulative gains of over 10,000%. But that was nothing compared to Reddcoin up 132,712%, or Einsteinium at 262,195%.
To top it all off, there’s Verge. In 2016, it shot up 1,362,400%.
***The safe way to speculate with altcoins
Let’s be clear …
Most altcoins won’t see such explosive growth. And even though altcoins are an asymmetrical bet, they’re still a bet — which means investors can lose money.
Given this, you should be wise about your investment amounts, as well as spreading your capital over a diversified portfolio of altcoins. Matt and Charlie preach these safety measures in their Crypto Investor Network newsletter.
But you should ask yourself — is a small, reasonable investment amount worth the gamble, given how asymmetric these returns can be?
Say you had been a part of Verge’s 1,362,400% moonshot.
And your investment amount?
$150, which you got from skipping date night one week … or that round of golf … or dinner with your friends …
That $150 would have turned into more than $2 million.
That’s the potential of an asymmetrical bet.
As we wrap up, some of the most notable investors in the world are seeing big things for bitcoin — the Winklevoss twins, Paul Tudor Jones, Stanley Druckenmiller, Mike Novogratz, and Bill Miller, to name a few. But if Matt and Charlie are right, the truly huge money will be made with altcoins.
Have a good evening,
Jeff Remsburg