Adam Back, who is at the helm of blockchain startup Blockstream, believes there are better days ahead for bitcoin investors, suggesting a flippening between BTC and gold could be in the cards.

Back says it is “plausible” for the BTC price to reach somewhere between $250,000 and half-a-million dollars in the coming years. He offered the outlook even as the bitcoin price has yet to find a bottom, with the price currently hovering at $4,500 on CoinMarketCap and technical signals like the GTI Global Strength indicator screaming oversold conditions.

Blockstream’s Back was responding to an ounce of perspective delivered by blockchain pioneer Bobby Lee, who in addition to being Litecoin Creator Charlie Lee’s brother is also the co-founder of BTCC, a once-leading China-based cryptocurrency exchange. Lee, in fact, was the first to raise the possibility of a flippening for bitcoin and gold.

That's the real flippening @bobbyclee! personally I consider $250k-$500k/BTC plausible in the years ahead, from the digital gold, censor-resistent competitor to physical gold, and internet native digital money. https://t.co/hSq2aHvg8z — Adam Back (@adam3us) November 20, 2018

According to Blockchain.com, the number of BTC currently in circulation is approximately 17,374, 775.

“Unquestionably a Success”

Incidentally, a recent report by accounting giant KPMG suggests that bitcoin has yet to prove itself as a store of value or as cash and it won’t until there is greater institutional participation in the market. Others, like blockchain pioneer Jeff Garzik, who was an early coder for the Bitcoin network, disagree. Garzik recently told Bloomberg:

“[Bitcoin] hasn’t evolved in the direction of high-volume payments, which is something we thought about in the very early days: getting merchants to accept Bitcoins. But on the store-of-value side it’s unquestionably a success.”

Perfect Crypto Storm

Back’s insistence that the stars will eventually align for crypto suggests that the meltdown in the crypto markets will prove to be a short-term phenomenon, one that has materialized as the result of a perfect storm that even the most astute market strategists couldn’t have predicted. The SEC drew its line in the sand for ICOs, which has, in turn, seemingly led to panic selling among ICO startups. Meanwhile, the Bitcoin Cash hash war has also fueled a lack of trust there even as the fate of many altcoins that have shed 90%-plus of their value hangs in the balance.

Back’s focus on the long-game for the BTC price is probably a good idea, considering that the shorter-term predictions have come back to haunt some. Fundstrat Co-Founder Thomas Lee, for instance, is most recently tempering expectations. Lee has revised his year-end BTC price forecast down from a previous $25,000 to $15,000, according to CNBC.

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