"Coins Will Keep Rising": Wall Street Giant Lays Out a $2.9 Million Bitcoin Scenario

[The Financial News] Global asset manager VanEck has released an analysis arguing that the future value of leading cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum could rise sharply. The firm projects that Bitcoin could reach 2.9 million United States dollars (USD) per coin by 2050, or roughly 4.3 billion won, while Ethereum could surge to 22,000 dollars, about 33 million won, by 2030.
In research published on the 18th (local time), VanEck set a base-case target price of 2.9 million dollars for Bitcoin in 2050. This forecast assumes that the cryptocurrency will partially replace global mediums of exchange and a portion of central banks’ reserve assets worldwide, and applies an annual growth rate of 15% under that premise.
VanEck described Bitcoin’s medium- to long-term trajectory as "clear and convincing." The firm pointed to the 2024 halving, which cut the pace of new coin issuance in half, and to the rapid influx of institutional capital, noting that United States of America (U.S.) Bitcoin Spot Exchange-Traded Fund (Bitcoin Spot ETF) products have already absorbed around 12% of the total circulating supply.
VanEck also noted that Bitcoin, with its maximum supply capped at 21 million coins and its continued use of the highly secure Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, has established itself as a key tool for hedging against inflation and the declining value of the U.S. dollar. As of the 19th, Bitcoin was trading at around 71,024 dollars.
For 2030, VanEck set a base-case target price of 22,000 dollars for Ethereum. This is far above the firm’s previous 2023 estimate of 11,848 dollars. VanEck forecast that Ethereum could reach this level if it maintains its dominant position as a smart contract platform and continues to expand its role as payment and settlement infrastructure for decentralized finance (DeFi), Stablecoin, and real-world asset tokenization (RWA tokenization).
The core of VanEck’s argument is that while Bitcoin functions as a "store-of-value asset based on scarcity," Ethereum more closely resembles a "digital infrastructure that generates cash flow." As of the 19th, Ethereum was trading at around 2,189 dollars.
Having successfully transitioned to a Proof of Stake (PoS) system that cuts energy consumption by more than 99%, Ethereum now operates as a "decentralized global computing platform" supporting DeFi, Non-Fungible Token (NFT) projects, and RWA-related applications. However, faster networks such as Solana are rapidly gaining market share, and some observers warn that as data traffic shifts to Layer 2 solutions, fee revenue on the mainnet itself could decline.
A VanEck representative commented, "From an investor’s perspective, there is no need to choose only one between Bitcoin and Ethereum," adding, "Bitcoin can serve as a solid foundation to hedge macroeconomic uncertainty, while Ethereum can act as an aggressive asset that provides exposure to the growth of Web3 and the decentralized internet, allowing the two to play complementary roles within a portfolio."
hsg@fnnews.com Han Seung-gon Reporter