Just five months ago, billionaire venture capitalist ‘Tim Draper’ made a prediction that the price of one bitcoin will rise to $250,000 by 2022. Even though the price has since fallen, Draper believes that bitcoin will bounce back.
When the Silk Road collapsed in 2014, the U.S. Marshals auctioned 144,000 bitcoins and Tim Draper purchased 40,000 bitcoins for $24,000,000. In today’s terms, this is estimated to be worth $267,662,000.
Both Tim and Adam Draper have been early supporters of bitcoin. Tim founded Draper University — which has a free course on bitcoin. Tim’s son Adam launched Boost VC, an incubator-fund that invests in blockchain technology and virtual reality.
Here’s how the two Draper’s see bitcoin, crypto, and blockchain technology changing our world.
Luke Fitzpatrick: What trends did you anticipate that has now happened, and what did you think was going to happen that didn’t?
Adam Draper: I thought that payments would be a bigger piece of the overall crypto market, it’s still a hope and I think will be true in the future. Fundraising on the blockchain was definitely anticipated and executed previously — but ethereum made it so much easier.
Tim Draper: I did not anticipate that the regulators would put a dark cloud over all this innovation. I had hoped that there would be some clear simple rules and we could then get on with it. But I guess there are a lot of old-school banking lobbyists trying to cling to the status quo. Years from now, governments will be judged by how well they manage this transition from fiat to crypto.
Luke Fitzpatrick: What did you think of the caliber of the new cryptocurrencies entering the market?
Adam Draper: So many entrepreneurs planning out new ways that decentralization can change the world. I think it’s amazing. There are so many smart and passionate people entering the space. The caliber, in general, has been great.
Tim Draper: They are a mix. We are seeing some that are just bitcoin copies and have no reason to exist. We are seeing others that we think are going to have profound effects on industry and government.
Luke Fitzpatrick: What do you see as being the biggest problem with the blockchain technology today?
Adam Draper: The biggest problem in blockchain today is delivering true value to the end consumer and usability of the products.
Tim Draper: It needs time to mature and for all that creativity to come to fruition. I look forward to being able to fund companies in bitcoin who pay their people and suppliers in bitcoin so that all the accounting is done automatically on the blockchain. I look forward to paying my bills in bitcoin. I look forward to having all my legal contracts ‘be smart’ (in software) contracts. I look forward to seeing geographic borders dissolve around the world.
Luke Fitzpatrick: What do you think the blockchain landscape is going to look like in 2022 and beyond?
Adam Draper: In 2022, no one will be saying, ‘crypto or blockchain,’ because it will be integrated into all technology. The same way that no one says, ‘I am starting an internet company,’ — even though every startup is one.
Tim Draper: Well, my prediction is that the price of one bitcoin will rise to $250,000 in 2022. I think the products around bitcoin, blockchain and smart contracts will make it much easier to do business via crypto — so there will be a major shift over these next four years.