Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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Ripple’s CEO believes that the total crypto market cap will reach $5 trillion by the end of the year.
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He also predicted that there would be regulatory clarity in the U.S. crypto space soon.
Crypto Market Cap Will Reach $5 Trillion This Year
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is confident that the total crypto market cap will double by the end of the year. He made this prediction during an interview with CNBC over the weekend.
The total crypto market cap currently stands at $2.5 trillion and Garlinghouse believes it will touch $5 trillion in the coming months. He told CNBC that,
“I’ve been around this industry for a long time, and I’ve seen these trends come and go. I’m very optimistic. I think the macro trends, the big picture things like the ETFs, they’re driving for the first time real institutional money. You’re seeing that drives demand, and at the same time demand is increasing, supply is decreasing,” Garlinghouse said. “That doesn’t take an economics major to tell you what happens when supply contracts and demand expands.”
According to Garlinghouse, the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted real institutional investments in crypto and the trend will only go.
Furthermore, he cited the upcoming Bitcoin halving event as another major macro factor that may push the total crypto market cap beyond $5 trillion. The halving will occur in less than two weeks and will see mining rewards for bitcoin miners cut by half.
Historically, Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have gone on to establish new all-time highs after each halving. Industry experts and market participants expect the same scenario to play out this time around.
The U.S. Crypto Regulation Will Gain Clarity
Garlinghouse also touched on another major issue, which is the regulation of the broader crypto market in the United States. The Ripple CEO said he expects more regulatory clarity in the country once a new administration takes office following this year’s election. He said,
“One of the things actually I’ll say on the macro tailwinds for the industry: I think we will get more clarity in the United States. The U.S. is still the largest economy in the world, and it’s unfortunately been one of the more hostile crypto markets. And I think that’s going to start to change, also.”
His interview came a few days after Ripple Labs announced its intentions to launch a USD-pegged stablecoin later this year. The stablecoin will launch on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchain.
