Bitcoin Forum

Winklevoss Twins Say Bitcoin Market To Hit $400B, Urge Regulators Not To Push Innovation To China

Speaking at the Dealbook conference in New York, the Winklevoss twins said they expect the Bitcoin market has the potential to reach a capitalization of $400 billion, while asking regulators not to push innovation out of the U.S. and into China.

“Today, [Bitcoin’s market cap] is at $4 billion,” Cameron Winklevoss told Andrew Ross Sorkin, “we believe [it could reach] $400 billion.”  While the Winklevoss twins may be trying to sell their latest product, a coming ETF that will allow retail investors to tap into the world of virtual currencies, they have hit on a market niche that is growing in interest and popularity.

Back in April, reports put the Winklevoss’ Bitcoin stake at $11 million.  Since then, the price of the virtual currency has tripled, even as one of the most active Bitcoin markets, Silk Road, has been shut down, they said.  Asked about Bitcoin being both untraceable and used for illicit transactions, Tyler Winklevoss said “so is the U.S. dollar,” noting that one actually has to reveal their IP address when making a Bitcoin transaction, making traceable to a certain extent.

The Winklevoss twins, made famous for their involvement with Facebook FB +0.56%, came into contact with the world of Bitcoin through a stranger when vacationing in Ibiza.  After a little research, “we thought it was an incredible invention,” Tyler explained.  Given the “buggy” nature of the global financial system, where monetary transfers and transactions go through major institutions, have high costs, and can take up to several days, Bitcoins allows for a more seamless, direct transfer of capital, they said.

The fact that it’s unregulated, that there is no “Bernanke of the Bitcoin Reserve” as Sorkin put it, is what gives the virtual currency credibility.  Trust in “cryptology,” Tyler said.

Finally, they made it clear that Bitcoin isn’t going anywhere any time soon.  If regulators choose to attempt to shut it down, they will only push innovation overseas, possibly to China where already companies like Baidu accept it.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2013/11/12/winklevoss-twins-say-bitcoin-market-to-hit-400b-urge-regulators-not-to-push-innovation-to-china/

They're right though, if the USA does anything to stifle Bitcoin overtly, then China is going to take an even larger lead. In a way, I almost hope they do something that stupid. It would just accelerate the trend.

If we use 11M as the current supply:

I think 11,984,725 is close enough to 12M that we can use 12M as the current supply.

A sick amount which nobody is gonna pay for if we are not adopting mBTC and uBTC very soon