Main points
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Jimmy Wales predicts that the price of Bitcoin could fall below $10,000 by 2050.
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He called it a complete failure of currency.
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The comments came as U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs recently recorded their strongest inflows in weeks.
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales said Bitcoin “is a complete failure as a currency” and predicted that the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency could fall below $10,000 by 2050.
Wales’s assertion comes as institutional inflows into U.S. spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) show signs of stabilizing.
In a series of posts on X this week, Wales said investors betting on Bitcoin going to zero “could be wrong.”
However, he believes the currency will depreciate significantly in the coming decades.
Wales believes that Bitcoin could “fall to a price consistent with enthusiast tinkering.”
“Because it has completely failed as a currency, a store of value, etc., it will not be the dominant currency in the future,” he wrote.
The Wikipedia founder has been skeptical of cryptocurrencies in the past, suggesting a 2050 price target of “less than $10,000 in today’s dollars. Probably much lower.”
In a separate post, Wales said Bitcoin “is simply not a successful currency” and described it as “a speculative asset at best,” adding that “artificial intelligence bots have not adopted cryptocurrencies en masse.”
“If you want to make good decisions in life, be careful not to buy into the hype that attracts you,” he wrote.
Wales’ comments were met with a wave of backlash on social media, with Bitcoin defenders pointing to increasing and sustained institutional allocations as evidence that prices will rise.
Regarding ETFs, Wales said that while the products could continue to exist, they might simply “trade at lower and lower prices” if public interest wanes.
His comments came as the U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETF saw a net inflow of $297.4 million into the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) on February 25, helping the cryptocurrency climb back above $68,000 after falling below $64,000 earlier in the week.
Market watchers describe recent flows as “cautious accumulation” rather than outright excitement.
While Wales has been harshly critical of Bitcoin’s long-term prospects, he has stopped short of backing a growing number of analysts predicting that the coin could collapse outright.
“Those who think Bitcoin will go to zero are probably wrong,” he wrote.
The cryptocurrency skeptic cited Bitcoin’s robust design and the likelihood that the system will continue to function even after a major disruption.
Wales’ comments contrast with a growing number of strategists predicting total failure.
Richard Farr, chief market strategist at Pivotus Partners, said earlier this month that his firm’s Bitcoin target is “$0,” arguing that it fails as a hedge against the U.S. dollar.
“Miners (i.e. the network) are bleeding cash,” Farr wrote. “We think it’s a zero.”
Other prominent Bitcoin skeptics and analysts have also warned that the price of Bitcoin will fall to $10,000.
Mike McGlone, senior commodities strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, reiterated his fundamental view that Bitcoin could revisit $10,000 levels earlier this month.
He believes “a Bitcoin/cryptocurrency collapse could lead to the next recession.”
Writing on LinkedIn, McGlone said the “cryptocurrency bubble is bursting” and warned that rising volatility in digital assets could “spread into the stock market,” noting Bitcoin’s close correlation with U.S. stocks.
He believes that a broader stock market downturn could cause Bitcoin to fall back to $10,000.
However, despite Wales’s comments about wavering institutional support, U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds made a notable comeback on February 25, recording net inflows of $506.5 million.
The move marked the highest single-day total in three weeks, reversing five consecutive weeks of outflows totaling about $3.8 billion.
Stocks rose on February 25, following an inflow of $257.7 million on February 24.
At the time of the report, Bitcoin was trading at around $67,916, down 0.94% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.
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