Late Hal Finney Predicted $10 Million Per BTC After Satoshi Release

Although some Bitcoin critics will spite anyone who believes that the cryptocurrency will be worth more than 1000× its current value in the future, one of its lead developers saw the light before everyone did.

In a congratulatory email that late Bitcoin developer, Hal Finney sent to the pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto in January 2009, he predicted that one BTC would be worth at least $10 million if certain conditions are met.

After congratulating Satoshi on the launch of the Bitcoin 0.1, Hal Finney wrote as part of what he termed an ‘amusing thought experiment,’

Imagine that Bitcoin is successful and becomes the dominant payment system in use throughout the world. Then the total value of the currency should be equal to the total value of all the wealth in the world.

Putting numbers into perspective, Hal Finney added,

Current estimates of total worldwide household wealth that I have found range from $300 trillion to $100 trillion. With 20 million coins, that gives each coin a value of about $10 million.

To be clear, Hal’s calculation of 20 million coins likely took into consideration the fact that Satoshi Nakamoto and a few others will mine the earliest coins or either the use of 20 instead of the original 21 for the total number of Bitcoin was a typo.

Either way, the now-deceased genius programmer although at that point saw Bitcoin’s potential, may not have believed it would reach its current level of success for he also said in that email that the chance of Bitcoin succeeding was ‘very slim.’

Fast forward to a little over ten years later, Bitcoin is trading above $10,000 per coin, representing an over 7500% yield for those who got their share of it at the time that Hal Finney did.

Despite the incredible returns, though, the upside for Bitcoin is still a long way off if Hal Finney’s prediction were to come through. The price of the leading cryptocurrency will have to grow by 1000x it’s current value for that target to be met.

Although realistically that could take many years from now, relieving Hal’s initial thoughts about Bitcoin appears to indicate that the holders of the cryptocurrency are in for a tasty treat!