Crypto industry CEO Charles Hoskison has dropped his ultra-bullish forecast for the Bitcoin price to climb to $500,000 in two years, citing nation-states weighing strategic BTC reserves and the incorporation of decentralized finance functionalities into the OG crypto network.
Hoskinson Drops Forecast For Bitcoin To Hit $500K By 2026
Speaking during a Nov. 26 YouTube live stream, Cardano creator and Input Output CEO Charles Hoskinson voiced renewed optimism about Bitcoin’s future, noting that the alpha crypto has grown from “a sleeping giant never to awaken in an innovation coma to an awakened giant.”
Hoskinson observed that major advancements following Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade allow a degree of programmability previously not possible on the blockchain. These innovations enable the creation of a decentralized finance layer on Bitcoin.
Hoskinson thinks DeFi on the Bitcoin network will overtake that secured by all other blockchain ecosystems in the coming two to three years:
“It is my belief that DeFi in the Bitcoin ecosystem will eclipse DeFi in all ecosystems in the cryptocurrency industry within 24 months to 36 months.”
The crypto billionaire attributed this predicted supremacy to Bitcoin’s unprecedented scale and liquidity, explaining that “as good as Ethereum can be and Solana can be and Cardano can be, let’s be intellectually honest about this. Governments are talking about a strategic reserve of Bitcoin, and Bitcoin alone is their entry point, and perhaps in five or 10 or 15 years, that dialogue will change.”
Hoskinson expects this aspect to propel the Bitcoin price to new six-figure lifetime highs.
“It is my belief that Bitcoin is going to go to a quarter million to half million dollars within the next 12 to 24 months because of the investment inflows and the great interest that has been achieved,” he opined.
Bitcoin DeFi
In late October, Cardano development arm Emurgo announced that it was developing a new Cardano-Bitcoin bridge based on the Grail protocol in partnership with BTCOS.
Hoskinson later confirmed that the network would eventually become home to Bitcoin DeFi applications, adding, “With babel fees, Bitcoin developers can develop Hybrid Cardano/Bitcoin applications in Aiken and pay their transaction fees in Bitcoin.”
During the recent live stream, Hoskinson detailed how Cardano would facilitate interoperability with Bitcoin by using wrapped BTC tokens on the Cardano blockchain, facilitated by trustless bridge mechanisms and virtual machines such as BitVM. This bridge would allow Bitcoin holders to engage in DeFi activities on Cardano without losing custody of their assets or depending on centralized exchanges.