A while back, Marc van der Chijs wanted to retire, but he only managed six weeks of it before he gave up. Recently, he set up First Block Capital, which is a fund that invests in digital currencies, in order to reach his goal of collecting a billion dollars within a couple of years.
Van der Chijs is a firm believer in digital currencies and the blockchain technology that drives it. He recently gave a speech at the Crypto Investment Summit held in Ede, the Netherlands. Organizer Vincent Everts asked Van der Chijs for a prediction as he had predicted last year that Bitcoin would hit $10,000, which happened.
He said that he believes that Bitcoin will hit the $15,000 mark by the end of this year (which it has), saying:
There are all kinds of professional investors who want to add it to their portfolio this year, so that they can show that they are in it.
For 2018, Van der Chijs expects Bitcoin to hit about $40,000, stating:
There is still a great deal of institutional money waiting on the sidelines to participate in this market.
By 2021, he predicts that it will have surpassed or hit the $150,000 mark. When it becomes an accepted means of payment around the world, he predicts it will have hit millions of dollars in value due to the fact that since there is only 21 million Bitcoin globally, the demand will rise, but the supply will not. Thus, its value will only continue to rise.
EARLY INVESTING
Marc van der Chijs started making money long ago in China. After studying for a BA in the Netherlands, he joined the German company Daimler and moved to Beijing as the company’s financial controller.
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Later on, he met Gary Wang through his wife, Grace. The two joined up and created the biggest video site in China,Tudou. The company was publicly listed in 2011 with a valuation of $822 million. Four years later, Alibaba bought the company at over $4 billion. However, Van der Chijs is not a billionaire; to him, that is an advantage as he notes:
In the billionaires around me, I see that the drive is gone. They are no longer interested in companies in which a few million must be invested. Actually, it is an advantage that I am not extremely rich. That is why I think differently. I still have the incentive to invest and to earn from it.
SEEING THE CRYPTOCURRENCY LIGHT
During the financial crisis in Cyprus, banks blocked access to customer accounts to prevent a bank run. This meant Marc van der Chijs could not access funds for his company. After this, he began to take a keen interest in the financial and banking systems.
He soon realized that the alternative was digital currencies, saying:
I saw that it was something that changed the world, especially because of the blockchain. That will become a kind of second Internet and turn industries upside down.
By speaking at conferences globally, Marc van der Chijs is helping to spread the word on Bitcoin. In 2015, he was able to visit Necker Island, owned by Richard Branson. There he talked about Bitcoin to about 150 people. Another prediction of Van der Chijs is that banks will soon begin to offer Bitcoin accounts, allowing you to convert Bitcoin into fiat currency with just the touch of a button.
