The exchange rate of bitcoin has grown almost five times over the past year. Lingering around $11,000 in September 2020, it is now approaching $50,000. The growth of this most popular cryptocurrency has been driven, among other factors, by the policy of quantitative easing currently pursued by Western economies — or by the inflation of its major reserve currencies, to be more precise. Surprisingly, another driver could be female crypto investors.
This is the prediction made by Tim Draper, the pioneer of venture capital business in the United States and co-founder of Draper Associates.
Draper explained that women are responsible for 80% of retail spending, and the more frequently they pay with bitcoin, the stronger this cryptocurrency will become. He also expects that thanks to women, who will be increasingly insisting on this payment method, cryptocurrency transactions will become more common.
The financial expert shared his prognosis at the Benzinga Crypto Trading Festival in the United States (watch the full festival here). This prediction is well substantiated, as women are becoming more involved in the crypto industry. Tim Draper notes that only recently, one in every 14 bitcoin wallets belonged to women while now it is one in every three.
The Gemini cryptocurrency exchange estimates that women account for 26% of all cryptocurrency owners in the United States. They are also showing higher interest in cryptocurrency and crypto investment than men.
According to Robinhood, one in every four customers trading cryptocurrency via the platform in 2021 is a woman. eToro estimates that the number of female crypto traders in the United States using the platform amounts to 20% of all users in the country.
Tim Draper agrees that the growth of bitcoin will be stimulated by global inflation as well.
“Rising inflation decreases the value of fiat money, while increasing the value of cryptocurrencies,” Draper said.
He believes that the investment companies that have been avoiding bitcoin will, sooner or later, have to explain to their customers why they are doing so. Earlier, Draper warned bitcoin owners against selling.
“Why would I want to sell the future currency for the past currency? It is the same as selling euros to buy drachmas,” Draper said.
“Every currency has its flaws. But we have to admit that the major cryptocurrencies do not have the congenital inflation vulnerabilities that are eating away at our trust in many kinds of fiat money and have already forced some countries to de-dollarize their economies in favor of cryptocurrencies,” comments professor Artem Genkin, the author of Private Money: History and Modernity, and Blockchain: How It Works and What Awaits Us Tomorrow.