Tom Lee Predicts Bitcoin Could Reach $500,000 in Next Five Years

Crypto market analyst Tom Lee has predicted that Bitcoin could reach $500,000 within the next five years.

In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Lee predicted that Bitcoin could hit $100,000 and “maybe” $150,000 within the next 12 months, and added that “something around half a million would be potentially achievable” in the next five years.

Lee cited Bitcoin’s finite supply and the potentially massive increase in demand for Bitcoin following the expected approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs as reasons for his prediction.

Lee, currently the Head of Research at FS Insight, argued in an October interview that the prospective demand for Bitcoin if ETFs were to be approved could go as high as $100 million per day.

Lee cited the $100 million per day figure with regard to Bitcoin’s upcoming halving, which is predicted to occur in April. The halving could potentially reduce the daily supply of Bitcoin to around 12 million.

Young vs Old

Squawk Box co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin then asked Lee for his thoughts on whether individuals who traditionally purchased Bitcoin through exchanges such as Coinbase would continue to do so in the wake of the expected approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs.

“A lot of the younger generation of investors want to be my keys, my coin, so they want to own the private keys,” Lee said.

The older generation, however, will still likely purchase Bitcoin through public markets and public proxies, Lee predicted.

“As you know, there’s a generation of folks that would rather allocate through their 401(k), or through public markets or liquid assets,” Lee said. “If you look at some of the percentage of assets held by those over age 50, it’s close to 76% of all wealth in America. It’s over $120 trillion. So I think that cohort is still going to prefer to own it through public markets and public proxies.”

Lee isn’t the only analyst with a $150,000 prediction for Bitcoin.Robert Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” recently expressed his excitement at the impending approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs on an X post, writing, “BITCOIN ETF. Yay. Glad I bought years ago. Bitcoin to $150k soon.”