Bitcoin’s runway has never been so promising as predictions of it hitting $1 million by 2029 emerge and institutional adoption deepens. Eric Trump's bold statement about crypto, Kraken's unusual hiring process, and Senator Lummis's critique of President Trump's memecoin dinner add layers to the week's developments. At the same time, regulatory developments across the pond in the EU paired with major strategic moves by crypto titans indicate a sea change in the industry.
The week's top-performing altcoins, Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL), Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), and Monero (XMR), reflect the market's dynamic nature. This story and others like it are examples of the continuous evolution, growing frequency and adoption of cryptocurrencies into traditional finance and now even politics.
Bitcoin's Bullish Outlook and Institutional Embrace
André Dragosch, director and head of European research at Bitwise, predicts Bitcoin will reach $1 million by 2029. This projection assumes that Bitcoin is able to grow to match gold’s market capitalization. It further anticipates Bitcoin to penetrate its total addressable market over the next five years.
Our in-house prediction is $1 million by 2029. So that Bitcoin will match gold’s market cap and total addressable market by 2029. - André Dragosch
Bitcoin's expanding institutional adoption could provide the structural inflows necessary to surpass gold's market capitalization. Each time a new institutional player adopts Bitcoin, the stability and value proposition of the cryptocurrency is augmented.
This is exactly why US-based investment adviser firm Two Prime has taken an audacious step. They have since changed course to focus solely on Bitcoin and removed support for ETH. According to the firm’s statement, ETH’s trading activity, value proposition, community culture are no longer justified for their continued involvement on the firm’s platform.
ETH’s statistical trading behavior, value proposition, and community culture have failed beyond a point that is worth engaging. - Two Prime
Political and Regulatory Developments
Senator Cynthia Lummis joins one other Republican in Congress in publicly criticizing US President Donald Trump. They object to him holding a dinner and a private White House tour for top memecoin holders. Our critique, informed by extensive experience with anti-corruption advocacy, illustrates the emerging intersection of cryptocurrency and political capture.
In fact, the CIA has already begun closely monitoring Bitcoin, employing it as an asset of data harvesting in counter-intelligence campaigns. The agency’s involvement highlights the significance of cryptocurrency in national security and intelligence efforts.
As the new EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR) comes into effect in a matter of weeks, it will ban credit institutions, financial institutions and crypto asset service providers from keeping anonymous accounts. This regulation is a long overdue step to boost our nation’s transparency and help fight financial crime within the crypto space.
Strategic Business Decisions and Security Measures
Fairly or unfairly, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao made that call to not pursue the MiCA license and put 400+ million users at risk. This decision echoes his commitment to protecting users in areas of the country lacking such regulatory safeguards.
I decided to not apply to the MiCA license because I need to protect the 400 million+ users that we have around the world. They are not as lucky as Europeans. - Paolo Ardoino
Security intensive Kraken tracked down a North Korean hacker thanks to a job interview, a sign of the creative approaches being employed to protect systems. No one anticipated that this incident would be what focused our attention on the need for strong cyber protection, particularly for cryptocurrency platforms.
What started as a routine hiring process for an engineering role quickly turned into an intelligence-gathering operation. - Kraken
