At Least 5-10% of S&P Companies to Follow Elon Musk’s Lead This Year

Our Co-founder and Managing Partner Antoni Trenchev joined Bloomberg anchors Annmarie Hordern and Manus Cranny to talk Bitcoin price scenarios and the inevitable corporate allocation towards BTC, Nexo improving access to financing, the possibilities of NFTs, and the importance of Coinbase’s listing for the space.

Taking up the baton from Mike Novogratz, Antoni commented on the most salient events in crypto right now. Watch the full interview or read the summary and transcript below:

• There are two ways Bitcoin could go in the short-term: a sprint to $75,000 or a pullback towards $45,000, the latter only in case we don’t pierce through 60,000 by mid-month.
• BTC hitting $60,000 would foster even more buying, given the increasing demand – especially on the institutional side – over the past weeks.
• At least 5-10% of S&P companies are going to follow Elon Musk’s lead by end-2021 and invest some of their treasuries in Bitcoin as an inflation hedge.
• Bitcoin’s far too valuable to spend. That’s why Nexo makes financing readily available – something that has been a given for Wall Street and Silicon Valley for over 30 years.
• If there’s anything akin to a bubble in crypto, it would be within the NFT space, although a scenario in which the next Googles and Amazons emerge from the ashes of a bursting bubble is possible, much like in the aftermath of the Dot-com boom.
• The Coinbase listing is great for the visibility of crypto and a telltale sign that crypto is here to stay – that regulators will impose certain restrictions but they’re nowhere near outlawing it. The listing paves the way for a lot of crypto-native companies to attract more investors and draw more people into crypto.

Transcript

Annmarie Hordern:

Joining us now to discuss this further is Antoni Trenchev. You say in your notes that there's a fork in the road for Bitcoin. Do you think the next 25% is going to be to the upside or the downside?

Antoni Trenchev:

It really depends on the price action that we see by the middle of April. We are either going to $75,000, and if we can’t pierce through $60K mid-month, I'm afraid we are going to seea pullback towards $45,000 per Bitcoin. Keeping the bigger picture in front of us, thishas nothing to say about the long-term bullish trend in Bitcoin, which remains intact.

Manus Cranny:

Good morning to you, Antoni, great to have you back on the show. Let’s go to the bull side: what does it take to get us up 25% to 75,000? What is it that takes us there?

Antoni Trenchev:

On the technical level, a pierce through $60,000 would foster more buying. Good news – we've had plenty of that in the past months. Мore people and companies are coming into the space, especially on the institutional side. I personally think that by the end of the year we are going to see at least 5-10% of the S&P companies following Elon Musk's lead and taking some of their treasuries as a protective hedge against the inflationary pressures and the expansive money policies of the central banks, they would take his lead and invest some in Bitcoin, which will result in even more net buying and would always be positive.

Annmarie Hordern:

One thing Mike Novogratz said was that he doesn’t see the use of Bitcfoin to be actually for purchasing power. He said you can’t buy a diet Coke or sunglasses on it. What do you see in terms of the adoption of the actual use in everyday life of Bitcoin?

Antoni Trenchev:

Bitcoin is too valuable to buy Starbucks coffee with, that's why we have companies like ours, Nexo. We have dedicated efforts to cater to the needs of the clients and give you the means to maintain and hold onto your crypto, and at the same time do what Wall Street and Silicon Valley have been doing for the past 30 years – essentially, borrowing against your assets, spending the proceeds of the loan, and keeping the crypto at the same time. It’s as efficient as swiping your Mastercard.

Manus Cranny:

Let's hope that the banks disclose who they are leveraged up against, whom they’re lending to, and to what extent against Bitcoin. Art, collectibles, and IP. Mike Novogratz says these are the alphas of the next move across the blockchain. How important are collectibles and IP to the next generation and evolution of the blockchain?

Antoni Trenchev:

I don't necessarily love to disagree with Mike Novogratz – he's a legend, as large as they come. But quite frankly, at this elevated level that we saw with non-fungible tokens, I simply don't get it. I don't get how they get valued. If there's anything akin to a bubble within crypto, I would argue it's within the NFT space. Whether out of the ashes of a bursting bubble that we’re seeing right now, we will have some companies and something actually useful come out of it – similar to the Dot-com bubble out of which the next Googles and Amazons came out – it remains to be seen. One has to be cautious this late in the bull cycle with NFTs.

Annmarie Hordern:

So no Beeple yet for you. We have the Coinbase direct listing coming up. What are your thoughts on that? Is it just bullish? Is this the first of many to come?

Antoni Trenchev:

First of all, it's great for the visibility of crypto, so that it comes to people who are not in our yet-very-niche market. Second of all, it's another sign of a long streak of signs that crypto is here to stay. That regulators will impose certain restrictions of it in terms of know-your-customer, anti-money laundering policies but they’re nowhere near outlawing it which has always been in the back of the mind of everyone. Last but not least, it paves the way for a lot of crypto companies to follow their lead, take their playbook, and explore direct listings, SPACs, even IPOs as means of getting public and getting more investors and drawing more people into crypto.

Manus Cranny:

Antoni Trenchev, Nexo co-founder and MD, great to get your input.