Ask HN: What is the Future of Bitcoin?

Its fairly simple to estimate future value of BTC. The supply is fixed - there will never be more than 21,000,000 BTC in circulation so the only other factor is how big you think Bitcoin will become relative to other currencies.

For example, there is about 1.22 Trillion USD in circulation. Right now BTC has a market capitalization of $4B which puts it at about 0.3% of USD. If BTC were to become even 5% of USD that would be a 16x increase over where it is now ($330 x 16 = $5500). So if you believe that BTC could be at least 5% of what USD is then you should expect BTC to be worth about $5500 ea.

I personally think that is a conservative estimate. I expect at least $10k in the next 5 years.

This is my prediction. Exponential growth based on its history so far.

http://i.imgur.com/GOYWUMo.png

My prediction: The fact that the supply of Bitcoins is fixed will bite it in the ass in the future. Some major player will hoard enough Bitcoins to be able to control the market, reducing people's trust in the currency and relegating the currency to a niche. Bitcoin will almost definitely not displace the USD within our lifetime.

At the current price (also growing as we speak), I think it's difficult to use bitcoins for buying stuff. Everybody is hoarding them, hoping for increases; hence the growth.

How much will you pay for a coffe or an icecream? .0045 BTC? I see btc as a proof of concept that worked: easy, distributed way of transfering money.

The future price of Bitcoin will recapitulate the rise of information:

http://peculium.net/2013/04/08/bitcoin-is-a-bubble-only-if-y...

Here's my speculative answer: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6687535