A crypto research director, who says the leading altcoin Ethereum could eventually rise to $35,000, shares his 2 favorite altcoins and explains why comparing crypto to tech stocks in 1999 was actually a compliment.
“My background for cryptocurrencies is very, very positive”
Standard Chartered’s head of crypto research Geoffrey Kendrick says cryptocurrencies look pretty similar to tech stocks in the late 1990s. “I don’t use it because in 2000 the technology burst, but rather the size of the market, the evolution of the market is similar,” says Kendrick, although he is aware that the notorious tech bubble of 2000 had finally burst. Kendrick continues:
We didn’t really see the extreme price action and participation that we saw in technology back then. So I think more about the number of users. And there are very direct crossovers between the number of crypto assets, addresses and internet users in 1999. In fact, it accumulates almost exactly in terms of share of the global population.
A crypto boom that didn’t end with a crash would be a welcome development for investors in the space, after a dismal year so far for digital assets. As we reported on Kriptokoin.com, Bitcoin and Ethereum have dropped 18% and 23% respectively to date. But Kendrick focuses on a longer timeline and explains:
Fast forward five or ten years, and there’s very, very constructive ground here. And the use cases in things like Ethereum, for example, aren’t even fully realized yet. So my background is very, very positive.
“Leading crypto will be $100,000, leading altcoin will be $10,000”
So positive in fact that Kendrick’s 2022 price targets for Bitcoin and Ethereum are $100,000 and $10,000 respectively. This means an increase of about 150% and 250% for cryptos. Kendrick confirms that over the long term, he believes Ethereum could rise more than tenfold, a price target Reuters first reported in September 2021. and there are a number of market commentators who say this is a bearish signal. I don’t agree with this reasoning.
So how will Bitcoin and Ethereum reach the moon?
Geoffrey Kendrick is confident that Bitcoin and Ethereum ‘have very different drivers’ from previous trading cycles, so he thinks they will rally this year. Kendrick says that perhaps the most important catalyst for Bitcoin and Ethereum is the influx of smart money into cryptos despite their massive drop since last November, noting that this was not the case in the late 2010s:
Institutional money is coming, and Bitcoin in its most aggressive form. and it keeps coming despite the more than 50% selling in Ethereum. So ‘This time is different’ for me.
The head of research says that if Bitcoin eventually becomes a globally recognized store of value, accounting for about 2% of the world’s assets, the price prediction could hit the upper limit. But first, he adds, cryptocurrency must continue to bank the unbanked and evolve into a ‘true peer-to-peer transaction solution’.
Meanwhile, Kendrick notes that Ethereum should benefit from an upcoming network upgrade that experts refer to as ‘Consolidation’. Kendrick emphasizes that the event, which is set to reduce the number of new ETH tokens in circulation, is critical for the crypto market and can lead to a new wave of investment, and states that after that, Ethereum can take the title of the best token. Kendrick details his view as follows:
“I doubt this opens up the possibility that the medium-term valuation of Ethereum will overtake Bitcoin. For this you need to get it. So my year-end goals are $100,000 and $10,000, which is 1 to 10. You need to get to about 16% of the price, which I doubt is where we’re going in 2023.”
Two ‘Ethereum killer’ altcoins to watch
Alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum, Kendrick says he has an eye on two altcoins in particular: Polkadot (DOT) and Aavalanche (AVAX). Kendrick notes that these two ‘Ethereum killers’ are still worthy of consideration as Ethereum convergence approaches. According to Kendrick, investors may want to ‘buy on something that doesn’t do exactly what Ethereum does’.
Kendrick states that Polkadot, a multi-chain protocol aimed at connecting different blockchains, is popular in part because it was founded by Ethereum co-creator Gavin Wood. The head of crypto research also states that he is positive about money-chains as the Ethereum merger is taking place.
Kendrick says, “Given the kind of core use case for creating cross-chain connections, Polkadot probably stands out for me in terms of layering as a potential beneficiary middle term. This would probably be my #1 pick over the top 10 or 20 in layer sizes,” he says.
Avalanche takes more cautious advice from Kendrick considering it’s a direct competitor to Ethereum. Still, he acknowledges that the two tokens are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as a crypto investor can own both. Kendrick said, “I actually like Avalanche a lot in the sense that it’s something like Ethereum. Actually, I think Avalanche could still be good,” he says.
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