Dan Morehead, the founder of Pantera Capital, has likened investing in Bitcoin to acquiring gold centuries ago. His firm, recognized as the first cryptocurrency fund established in the U.S., has seen a staggering appreciation of over 130,000% since its inception. As he detailed in a recent blog post, Pantera’s initial Bitcoin investment was made at a price of $74, resulting in a striking return exceeding a thousand times that amount.
In discussions about Bitcoin ’s potential, Morehead argued that only a small portion of global financial wealth had been exposed to Bitcoin at the time he first made his case in 2013. He suggested that Bitcoin was at a pivotal point, where increased exposure could either drive its value significantly upward or lead to complete devaluation. However, he expressed confidence that Bitcoin is too established to collapse entirely, having reached what he terms “escape velocity,” with an estimated 300 million users globally.
Currently, Morehead estimates that about 5% of financial wealth is tied to Bitcoin , a figure he expects to grow as regulatory frameworks in the U.S. become clearer. The introduction of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds by significant financial firms has sparked considerable interest in the cryptocurrency market and could facilitate substantial institutional investment.
Forecasts indicate that Bitcoin ’s market value could soar to approximately $15 trillion, suggesting the price could escalate to around $740,000 — a 667% increase from current levels — with a timeline aimed for April 2028.
Despite past challenges, such as a significant price drop in December 2013 shortly after Pantera’s first investments, Morehead has remained optimistic about Bitcoin ’s long-term potential. He reflected on how Pantera occasionally utilized Bitcoin for expenses, recalling the hefty sums spent on accommodations that could have alternatively funded substantial real estate investments. Today, Bitcoin is trading around $95,135, showing a slight increase in recent days, according to CoinGecko data.
