- Adam Back has claimed that retail investors alone can propel Bitcoin to $300,000
- Back maintains he is not Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s creator
- Goldman Sachs’ attitude proves institutions still don’t get it
Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, has claimed that Bitcoin doesn’t need institutional investment to see $300,000 within five years. In an interview with Bloomberg, Back, who is thought by some to be Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto, claimed that retail investors can get Bitcoin to his target, having got the project this far.
Satoshi Nakamoto Should Stay “Out of the Public”
Adam Back is perhaps the most original of Bitcoin’s OGs, a true cypherpunk who created Hashcash, a precursor to the idea of the proof-of-work consensus mechanism, in 1997, and is known to be one of the first people to have liaised with Satoshi Nakamoto about the idea of a decentralized currency.
In the interview with Bloomberg, Back denies being Nakamoto himself, but adds that “it’s a very good thing that Satoshi stays out of the public”, especially if Bitcoin wants to keep its perception as a commodity.
Adam Back Says Retail Can Push Bitcoin to $300,000
Unlike some OGs in the space, Back is happy to give a Bitcoin prediction. He told Bloomberg that he believes Bitcoin can reach $300,000 within five years on retail investment alone:
It might not require additional institutional adoption because the current environment is causing more individuals to think about hedging. And retaining value when there’s a lot of money printing in the world.
Back’s reasoning echoes that of many other high profile investors, such as hedge fund CEO Paul Tudor Jones, financial analyst Raoul Pal, and noted financial renegade Robert Kiyosaki. The recent report from Goldman Sachs which stated that Bitcoin was not an investment they could recommend to their clients has only reinforced Back’s beliefs:
The Goldman report was interesting because it showed some misunderstandings about digital scarcity and what’s useful about Bitcoin. It indicates it’s still early in terms of the adoption curve. You have a major sophisticated market player like that with unclear understanding of the value. To me that indicates there’s still a lot of headroom for price appreciation and adoption in the market.
Of course, only time will tell if Back’s predictions pan out, but with Blockstream having gathered together some $90 million in investments so far and a potential future raise in the offing to expand its Bitcoin mining activities, it’s pretty clear which way Adam Back thinks the wind is blowing.
