Citibank hails Bitcoin as the digital gold of the 21st century

The price of the first cryptocurrency could reach $318,315 by the end of 2021, as it cements its status as digital gold in the 21st century. The forecast was presented by Tom Fitzpatrick, a managing director at one of the world’s largest banks, Citibank.

An expert, whose report was published by trader and economist Alex Krüger, drew a parallel with the 1973 decision to sever the Bretton Woods system, signed in 1944, and the move toward the Jamaican monetary system. These events marked the detachment of the US dollar from its gold equivalent (the gold standard).

In 1971, US President Richard Nixon severed that link, creating the fiat currency regime as we know it today.

Fitzpatrick noted the volatile ascent of the precious metal over the subsequent 50 years.

In the report, he compared monetary inflation and the dollar’s devaluation as conditions for comparing gold and Bitcoin.

“The first cryptocurrency emerged as a response to the global economic crisis of 2008, which transformed monetary policy toward near-zero interest rates,” the researcher explained.

In Fitzpatrick’s view, this explains Bitcoin’s 555-fold rise during the first bull run from 2011 to 2013.

He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying monetary and fiscal measures by governments are creating a market environment similar to that of gold in the 1970s. Authorities in developed countries have signaled clearly that they will not refrain from unprecedented money printing until GDP and employment indicators recover.

On Bitcoin’s chart, Fitzpatrick identified four-year cycles of consolidation with bear and bull phases, which subsequently morph into rallies over the following year.

According to his calculations, Bitcoin’s price by December 2021 would rise 102-fold to $318,315 from a 2018 low of $3,200.

“Observe the price action, which over the last seven years has traced a well-defined upward channel. We can see a movement similar to that which characterized the last rally in 2017,” the expert said.

Fitzpatrick also suggested that gold would reach $4,000–$8,000, deeming the next crisis inevitable.

As reported in November, popular blogger PlanB confirmed that he remained true to his forecast for Bitcoin to reach $100,000–$288,000 by December 2021.

The Gemini founders, brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, are raising their stakes: based on their own analysis they forecast Bitcoin at $500,000.

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