Can a $10,000 Investment in Bitcoin Turn Into $100,000 by 2030?

A decade ago, many investors would have laughed at the idea of turning $10,000 into $100,000 by investing in Bitcoin (BTC 0.60%). Today, not so much. Bitcoin, the world's most valuable cryptocurrency, has surpassed all expectations. It has survived huge sell-offs on numerous occasions. Recently, it rocketed past $123,000, a new all-time high. It's now not uncommon for financial advisors to say it's fine to allocate a small portion of capital in the typical multi-asset portfolio to Bitcoin. With so much momentum, can a $10,000 investment in Bitcoin increase 10-fold and turn into $100,000 by 2030? For some, the answer is a definitive yes Bitcoin has broken away from the rest of the sector this year and outperformed most of the rest of the crypto market. Many investors now view Bitcoin and its finite supply of 21 million tokens as a form of digital gold and therefore a way to hedge inflation. While the jury is still out on that point, it has become a much more widely accepted thesis than many investors likely believed possible. Image source: Getty Images. With the growing pile of debt held by the U.S. government and more of a spotlight on the country's fiscal concerns, assets like Bitcoin and gold have surged, offering a unique form of diversification, especially if Bitcoin becomes more universally known as digital gold. President Donald Trump's election victory and his pro-crypto administration have only added fuel to the fire. The administration has appointed cabinet members that support cryptocurrencies, proposed pro-crypto legislation intended to clarify regulatory gray areas, and even planned the creation of a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and digital asset stockpile. Now, the question is, after such a big run, can Bitcoin rise from here and turn $10,000 into $100,000? Well, if you ask some of the more preeminent bulls in the industry, the answer would be a definite yes. Cathie Wood of Ark Invest has long said she could see Bitcoin hitting $1.5 million by 2030. But her bull case scenario during the past year and a half has put the price as high as $3.8 million. Wood believes a clearer regulatory regime will drive institutional interest, which will in turn drive the price of Bitcoin higher. Wood has previously said that if all institutional investment funds place 5% of their assets in Bitcoin, a huge amount to be sure, she could see Bitcoin rising into the millions. While I'm not sure what the count is when it comes to institutional Bitcoin ownership, there has certainly been a significant increase in Bitcoin treasury companies, which raise capital from the public markets that they use to buy the crypto. Speaking of Bitcoin treasury companies, Michael Saylor, the executive chairman of MicroStrategy (now doing business as Strategy), the largest Bitcoin-treasury company, has always been a big believer in Bitcoin. Saylor said earlier this year at a Bitcoin conference that he sees the price of Bitcoin rising all the way to $21 million by 2046: Twenty one million coins at a $21 million price in 21 years. And people ask, how's the network going to grow? It's going to be growing at 21% in 21 years. The volatility is going to be 21. The only number you need to remember is the number 21. What can you reasonably expect? Obviously, if Saylor or Wood are right, investors will easily be able to turn $10,000 into $100,000 by the end of the decade. However, investors should keep in mind that Wood and Saylor are perma-bulls, meaning they are always going to be Bitcoin advocates. And their math, especially Saylor's, seems like napkin math at best. I wouldn't read too much into long-term Bitcoin price targets. Although Bitcoin's volatility may be on the decline, it's still a very volatile asset. However, growing acceptance does seem undeniable, so I do think investors can own Bitcoin and generate good long-term returns. Regardless of whether Bitcoin turns out to be digital gold, there is a simple concept to Bitcoin that investors have missed over the years, as stated by Coatue Management's founder Philippe Laffont: "As long as other people think it's valuable, it gets more valuable over time."