June 18th is nearing, and that means that Facebook’s crypto asset, expected to be nothing like Bitcoin (BTC), is on the verge of becoming full public knowledge.
For those who missed the memo, reports released by TechCrunch and other mainstream outlets revealed that the social media giant was planning on releasing a white paper for “Libra” or “Globalcoin”, as the project is known as, on the 18th.
Related Reading: Family Offices Pour Billions Into eSports, Can Crypto be Next?
With this, industry commentators have come out of the woodwork to express their thoughts on the subject matter. And interestingly, some are divided on whether the release of this cryptocurrency will be bullish or bearish for the industry. Most, however, are sure that Libra’s foray into the mainstream will be unequivocally positive for Bitcoin and its altcoin brethren.
Facebook’s Crypto to Boost Bitcoin Sky-High
According to a recent tweet from Jeremy Allaire, the chief executive of Circle, the launch of Libra (whitepaper) will be a “massive inflection point in [the] global adoption of cryptocurrency.” Infusing the space with a nice dose of FOMO, the prominent entrepreneur adds that by June 21st, he fully expects for Bitcoin to be valued at $10,000, “marking [the] start of Crypto Summer.”
Crypto market rallying (again) ahead of Libra launch, marking a massive inflection point in global adoption of cryptocurrency. BTC > $10k by June 21st, marking start of Crypto Summer.
— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) June 15, 2019
While $10,000 may seem like just a nice round number, many see it as a key level to watch. According to Fundstrat Global Advisors, once Bitcoin reaches $10,000, “Level 10” FOMO will grace this market, which last occurred when BTC blipped above $4,500 in late-2017. If history is any guide, the cryptocurrency market will shoot even higher once $10,000 is breached. As Lee wrote on Twitter earlier this month, “[$10,000] will see FOMO from those who gloated about the 90% crash in BTC… and those who saw Bitcoin dead as forever.”
While Fundstrat has long had its eye on the $10,000 price point, its analysts never indicated a price target — until now anyway.
In a recent podcast with Binance’s chief financial officer, Wei Zhou, Lee explained that once $10,000 is breached, all hell will break loose for the cryptocurrency market. This corroborates the aforementioned analysis of this nascent market’s “FOMO levels”.
Per CCN, which reported on this first, the Wall Street analyst stated that once $10,000 is breached, there will be a “fast and furious” move to $20,000. And from there, Bitcoin will double in the next five months, reaching $40,000 in a jaw-dropping move.
Some Beg To Differ
There are some that rebut this cheery sentiment about Libra, however.
Peter Schiff, a prominent gold investor and libertarian-leaning economist, ventured that Facebook’s latest project will be “bad news” for Bitcoin.
Schiff, who has debated crypto pundits like Erik Voorhees and Barry Silbert previously, adds that Facebook will be targeting the unbanked in “nations with high inflation (Venezuela, for instance)”, thus threatening the biggest medium of potential BTC adoption.
The prominent cryptocurrency critic, who sides with the belief that BTC has no intrinsic value as is not better than hard gold, adds that Libra will likely be much stabler, cheaper, and more easy-to-use than Bitcoin.
Indeed, there are reports and individuals stating that the Facebook play will involve very low fees, fast transfer times, and a level of stability not seen with Bitcoin, in that this new cryptocurrency will be pegged to a basket of traditional currencies and maybe other ‘stable’ assets.
Featured Image from Shutterstock