Legendary Investor Draper Expects Bitcoin to Hit $250K Within 18 Months

Legendary venture capitalist and early cryptocurrency adopter Tim Draper is once again doubling down on his ultra-bullish outlook for Bitcoin.

The billionaire has predicted that the flagship cryptocurrency will surge $250,000 within the next 18 months.

From Butterfly Labs to the Mt. Gox debacle

Draper has revealed that his first attempt to acquire Bitcoin was back when the asset was trading at just $4.

He teamed up with Peter Viscenne to mine $BTC and ordered mining chips from hardware manufacturer Butterfly Labs.

However, the manufacturer allegedly used the chips to mine Bitcoin for themselves instead of shipping the equipment.

Bitcoin was already trading above $30 by the time they received the mining hardware.

Draper then ended up losing his entire stash during the collapse of Mt. Gox, which was the leading $BTC exchange at that time.

The price of Bitcoin remained surprisingly resilient. "It turned out that Bitcoin was being used for remitting money, paying unbanked employees, and creating economies where there weren’t any," he said.

Draper stepped in during the 2014 US Marshals auction of confiscated Silk Road assets, paying $632 per coin per coin.

Shortly after the massive purchase, Draper predicted that Bitcoin would hit $10,000 within three years. Despite drawing confused looks from the host, his forecast was spectacularly accurate.

Defending $250,000 prediction

Draperhas has admitted that his subsequent price targets "have not been so prescient." That said, he continues to stand by it.

"I have reason to believe that Bitcoin will reach $250k in 18 months," the billionaire stated in his latest post.

According to Draper, growing adoption and the ongoing degradation of traditional fiat currencies will be the key catalysts that will supercharge the next rally.