Hedge fund manager John Pfeffer, partner at Pfeffer Capital, speaking at the 23th Sohn Investment Conference, declared Bitcoin better than gold “on every front'”, predicted that it would reach ‘”no less than” $90,000, and that long term “it could reach $700,000.”

The Sohn Investment Conference, which takes place in New York, gives leading hedge fund managers a chance to meet and to talk about their top market picks. Speaking at this year's event, which was held on 23 April 2018, John Pfeffer, who is partner at Pfeffer Capital, gave Bitcoin (BTC) as his top pick for 2018 (and beyond).

Here are some of the highlights from his speech:

  • “We’re a spacefaring digital society and we’re still using a yellow metal as our non-sovereign store of value.”
  • “Bitcoin is the first viable candidate to replace gold the world has seen.”
  •  Bitcoin better than gold “on every front.”
  • “Most cryptoassets out there are bad bets.”

Later in the day, during an interview with CNBC's “Fast Money”, Pfeffer was asked about the price predictions for Bitcoin that he had made at the conference, namely that he expected the price of Bitcoin to rise to “no less than $90,000” and potentially as high as $700,000. Here is the response he gave:

In the case of Bitcoin, the $90,000 price is what it would be worth if Bitcoin became equal to private gold bullion holdings, about $1.6 trillion of total value compared to $150 billion or thereabouts today… On the higher end, you could get to higher values if Bitcoin becomes a major reserve currency, i.e. countries begin to take Bitcoin into their reserves… in that case, it could reach $700,000.

John Pfeffer

At press time, gold is trading around $1331 per ounce (according to Kitco), and Bitcoin is trading around $9,430 (according to data from CryptoCompare).