According to analysts at Bernstein Private Wealth Management, the US banking crisis could be the catalyst that finally propels Bitcoin into mainstream adoption. They predict that banks’ woes will fuel a “new crypto cycle” driven by mass migration to self-custody wallets. To rescue the ship, the Fed will have to resort to dollar debasement and monetary printing again, bringing back the role of Bitcoin as digital gold.
Bitcoin has been referred to as “digital gold” due to its scarcity and its potential as a store of value. As the Fed resorts to money printing in an attempt to solve the banking crisis, this could lead to inflation and a decrease in the value of the dollar. In this scenario, Bitcoin could serve as a hedge against inflation and a way to preserve wealth.
The analysts at Bernstein also expect 2023 to be a year of hyper-scaling and growth of self-custody wallets. Self-custody wallets allow users to hold their own private keys and have full control over their cryptocurrency assets. This is in contrast to holding cryptocurrency on an exchange, where the exchange holds the private keys on behalf of the user.
As more people migrate to self-custody wallets and adopt decentralized finance, this could further drive the adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Bernstein analysts Gautam Chhugani and Manas Agrawal said on Wednesday, in a note seen by CNBC, “The safe haven signal will lead to a new crypto cycle, pushing digital wallets as on-chain savings accounts.”
Overall, it seems that the US banking crisis could have significant implications for the future of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. As the situation develops, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
