IBM Exec Forecasts a Million-Dollar Bitcoin — When a Sat Will Equal a Cent

An IBM executive is unfazed by the current market realities, saying he sees Bitcoin (BTC) reaching a value of $1 million as a present possibility.

Jesse Lund, vice president of Blockchain and Digital Currencies at IBM, shared his predictions at the IBM Think 2019 Conference, which took place February 12–15, 2019.

$5,000 in 2019, $1 Million Someday

As the discussion drew to a close, the IBM executive was asked about what he believes the price of bitcoin will be by the end of this calendar year. He opined that bitcoin could cross the $5,000 mark by the end of the year, adding that he sees bitcoin “at a million dollars someday.”

Explaining the reasons for his million-dollar forecast, Lund said, “If bitcoin is at a million dollars, then [one] satoshi is on value parity with the U.S. penny.” He is of the belief that such a valuation will give the network for the world’s most valuable digital asset a liquidity value that will exceed $20 trillion.

Lund went on to say that with so much liquidity, there is potential for a significant change to the way corporate payments are being made all over the world.

Concluding, he said, “I see maybe $5,000 at the end of the year, but I see a way higher upward trajectory.”

IBM, Stellar and Future Partnerships

During the interview, Lund also touched on some of IBM’s most recent blockchain endeavors, particularly the company’s partnership with Stellar (XLM) and how it expects to integrate the Stellar network into Blockchain World Wire (BWW), its international payment channel.

He explained:

“There’s no technical reason or technical barriers that should prevent money from flowing the same way [as information]. […] The architecture of World Wire is really a cross-border payment network, the magic of which — if you will, the novelty of it — is the ability to send payment instructions saying, ‘Hey, I’m sending you something — get ready.’ And on the other end, the receiver is making sure that who you’re sending it to is not some nefarious actor or bad actor.”

IBM is using the Stellar network with BWW as both an intermediate currency and a means through which transaction fees can be covered.

Additionally, Lund revealed that IBM is working on forging alliances with other crypto assets. The IBM executive said the company believes in a network of digital assets that can provide settlement tools to effect cross-border payments. Also, the participants in the network should have the option to make real-time choices as they please.

“It could be Ripple, and it could be Bitcoin, but it would also probably include other instruments, like stablecoins, and even eventually soon — hopefully — Central Bank–issued digital currencies,” Lund concluded.