Investing.com — The future of the mining industry has never looked brighter, according to HC Wainwright, following the most anticipated meeting in Bitcoin's 15-year history, held in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Bitcoin 2024 event was attended by over 20,000 attendees, including two presidential candidates, former US President and Republican candidate Donald J. Trump, several US senators including Cynthia Lummis, and industry leaders such as Michael Saylor of MicroStrategy.
“It was heartening for the entire Bitcoin community to hear the overwhelming support for both Bitcoin and the mining industry from several US politicians,” wrote HC Wainwright.
Donald Trump's speech at the conference, the first by a US president at an event about Bitcoin, was a highlight. He compared the major currency to the steel industry of 100 years ago and outlined a plan to make the US the “cryptocurrency capital of the planet” and the “Bitcoin superpower of the world.”
His plan includes supporting Bitcoin mining and the expansion of artificial intelligence, creating a national Bitcoin reserve, establishing a presidential cryptocurrency advisory council, and defending the right to self-custody of cryptocurrencies. The Republican candidate also called for rejecting a central bank digital currency (CBDC), firing current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, shutting down “Operation Choke Point 2.0,” and creating a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Senator Lummis also proposed Bitcoin accumulation strategies. RFK pledged to transfer Bitcoin holdings from the U.S. government to the Treasury and purchase 550 Bitcoin daily until a reserve of at least 4 million Bitcoin is reached. Senator Lummis introduced a bill to establish a Bitcoin strategic reserve, proposing the accumulation of 1 million Bitcoin within five years.
HC Wainwright also discussed institutional allocations to Bitcoin ETFs, which could be a major near-term catalyst for the original cryptocurrency. Despite good demand since the launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs in January, adoption by large wealth advisory platforms has been slow. However, many platforms are accelerating their approval processes for these ETFs, and we may see them launch this year.
BlackRock (NYSE:) also highlighted Bitcoin’s low correlation with other assets and its potential as a hedge against currency devaluation, inflation and de-dollarization as key selling points.
A big draw was Michael Saylor, who laid out his bearish, base, and bullish Bitcoin price targets at $3 million, $13 million, and $49 million by 2045. These targets assume annual growth rates of 21%, 29%, and 37%, all of which are lower than Bitcoin’s 60% annual growth rate over the past decade. Saylor’s analyses are influential in the Bitcoin community, and his targets, while aggressive, are taken seriously.
HC Wainwright walked away from the event gradually becoming more bullish on Bitcoin and miners, identifying three positive near-term catalysts: the presidential election in November with pro-Bitcoin candidate Trump leading the race, the potential for large wealth advisory platforms to initiate strategic allocations into Bitcoin via ETFs in the next 12 months, and Fed rate cuts.
