Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, has shared a rather bleak outlook for Bitcoin’s future. He predicts that although the cryptocurrency won’t completely vanish or drop to zero value, it is likely to diminish significantly and be valued at less than $10,000 by the year 2050.
Wales emphasized that Bitcoin’s fundamental design is strong enough to ensure its continued existence. However, he believes its limited practical use will confine it to being merely a niche collectible favored by enthusiasts.
“Those who expect Bitcoin's value to collapse entirely are probably mistaken,” Wales explained. “Its architecture is resilient enough for it to persist indefinitely unless there's an unexpected failure in cryptographic security or a major 51% attack.”
Despite this endurance, Wales views such survival as largely symbolic rather than successful. He labeled Bitcoin as a “complete failure” when judged as both a functional currency and reliable store of wealth and forecasted that it will not become the primary form of money in the future.
“What remains plausible,” he added, “is for its price to decline until it aligns with hobbyist interest levels.” Accordingly, he suggested setting an estimated price target below $10,000 (in today's dollars) by 2050 — potentially even lower.
No Safe Haven
Wales also challenged the widespread belief that Bitcoin could act as an essential financial refuge for people living under increasingly oppressive governments.
When someone proposed that tightening digital rights would boost cryptocurrency adoption, Wales expressed doubt about this assumption.
“Bitcoin is difficult to use effectively due to volatility and lack of widespread acceptance,” he argued. “While suitable for hobbyists or enthusiasts only, traditional assets like gold, silver, jewelry, real estate and fine art will continue dominating as safe stores of value.”
He was similarly skeptical about institutional financial products such as ETFs and futures sustaining Bitcoin prices over time.
According to Wales, “ <em>Traditional finance intermediaries are notoriously pragmatic rather than ideological”, implying they would allow these instruments’ values “ <em>to fall if public demand decreases”.