The bitcoin – cryptocurrency hype is undeniable. Everyone in the know is already trading or at least thinking of trading.
With the huge rise of bitcoin and other digital currencies over the past year, it’s hard not to jump on the bandwagon and ride the crypto wave. Some people are buying and holding for future gains, some people are buying in order to try and make a quick turnaround, while others are simply buying due to FOMO (fear of missing out) especially the millennials as mention here in the FT.
Some of the most common questions I tend to get asked by friends who are interested in cryptocurrency are:
- What is bitcoin? I have written an easy explanation to bitcoin here.
- Am I too late?
- What’s the easiest way to buy bitcoin or crypto?
- How much should I invest?
- When will I make money?
- What coin should I buy?
- How do I sign up?
The list of questions are endless and every question answered, then leads to a new question. Let’s take for instance question #3 above: What’s the easiest way to buy bitcoin or crypto? The simple answer to that question is to go to coinbase.com and sign up for an account. It’s currently the easiest way to buy bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum and litecoin.
Moving into 2018, those of us in the crypto game can only imagine what it will be like, this time next year. With that in mind, I thought it’d be best to speak to an expert for his future predictions and I had the pleasure of speaking with David Drake, the Founder and Chairman of LDJ Capital, a multi-family office which deals in various funds worldwide with over $1.5 trillion in assets and maintains over 50+ global directors and family office partners.
Mr Drake is also seen as a leader in cryptocurrency. Mr Drake saw the value of digital assets when everyone was avoiding it. It all started in 2011 when Mr Drake collaborated on the JOBS Act to create new laws underlying all fundraising in the U.S. for all ICOs. His crypto hedge funds hold crypto, ICOs, and fintech equity as seed investments to help new coin to be made via ICOs. His company also offers bridge financing to seed upcoming ICO’s.
So with all the above in mind, let’s just straight into the deep end.
Mr Drake, did you ever imagine cryptocurrency becoming what it is today?
I had no idea it would move so quickly. I knew it would have momentum but I didn’t think it would get so big so quickly.
What are your predictions for Bitcoin and Ethereum prices this time next year?
Bitcoin will stay between 15k to 20k in price. Ethereum will grow to 2k because it is an ongoing business with more and more usage.
We have seen momentous rising in crypto during 2017. At present, what crypto’s are you excited about the most a?
We are going to see more and more new coins coming out. EOS is an interesting one. Plus we are going to have a 5 trillion dollar marketplace in crypto as a new asset class and both institutions and pension funds and IRA and wealth managers and broker-dealers will be buying and selling comfortably.
What cryptocurrencies are you currently invested in?
EOS, Ethereum, Bitcoin and holdings in 40 more coins. I have dozens of investments that I like, I am very diversified in these, and there is room for so much more.
Speaking of so much more. With the amount of new ICO’s being released during 2018, do you feel it’s a bit of overkilled or still believe there is room for more?
There is room for so much more, we haven’t even seen real public companies and operating business getting into this space. I was on the board for Naga publicly listed Frankford company with 2 hundred million market cap and they were doing a 50 million dollar ICO. We are going to see dozens of those companies coming in and they will change the landscape of the business as it is today.
We still have a long way to go before crypto reaches the masses. Do you feel that crypto will get regulated before the general public have a real chance of investing?
Yes, it will, we are going to have the SEC coming out with rules hopefully in the next few months which will dictate how it is handled and how it will be taxed. I think it will dictate how the next 12 months will be, with guidance from the SEC. But the rest of the world is outside of the reach of the SEC and they will continue to run it the way they have been doing today.
Amazon, Apple, Google, Paypal… Do you envision them all using crypto or even releasing their own coins?
I have been speaking to some of them and they are curious about the use of the applications for some of their subdivisions particularly VR and AR. I think they are looking at it but they are just too big. They might employ it as a marketing PR ploy, however, I think they will do something more in 2019.
Mr Drake was born in Sweden and is fluent in six languages. He holds an MBA in Finance and an MA in International Law and Economics from George Washington University in DC where he was awarded the Wallenberg Scholarship for academic merit.
Follow David Drake on twitter @DavidDrakeVC
Look out for more interview with cryptocurrency leaders coming soon to Flavourmag
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