The world of financial advice is evolving. While traditional financial advisors take a back seat, thought leaders in the cryptocurrency space are stepping into the spotlight. Roundtable anchor Rob Nelson and Bitcoin Bros co-host Aaron Williams delve deeper into this trend and its implications.

Rob Nelson highlighted a significant shift in sources of financial advice during a recent discussion. Younger generations are bypassing traditional financial advisors and turning to influential voices in the crypto community on social media. Figures like Aaron Williams of Bitcoin Bros are now guiding these new investors.

Nelson highlighted the growing reliance on cryptocurrency influencers, noting, “Let’s be honest, most people, especially younger people, are not going to financial advisors. They’re going to Bitcoin Bros., they’re going to Altcoin Daily.” He asked Williams about his outlook for the future of bitcoin and its potential to reach significant milestones by the end of the year.

Aaron Williams acknowledged the market’s unpredictability but remained optimistic. He explained that while short-term movements are difficult to predict, bitcoin reaching $90,000 to $100,000 is plausible. This would echo price predictions from other analysts in the space, such as Fundstrat’s Sean Farrell, who said bitcoin could reach $125,000 this year.

Williams cited declining inflation and bitcoin’s typical four-year market cycle as supporting factors. Williams emphasized, “Liquidity is going to pick up later this year and next year, and I think that will help bitcoin.”

Looking further ahead, Williams projected a peak for bitcoin in 2025, potentially reaching six figures. This prediction is based on anticipated market trends and liquidity inflows. “We see bitcoin peaking somewhere between late 2025 or mid-2025 to late 2025,” Williams stated, expressing a bullish long-term outlook.

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July 17: TON Teleport BTCa trusted bridge that facilitates secure bitcoin (BTC) transfers to and from The Open Network (TON) blockchain, has been launched. According to a message from the TON Foundation Team: “This development enables BTC holders to securely engage in DeFi on TON and participate in decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending platforms, and other applications. The TON Teleport BTC process is fully trustless and transparent, operating without a centralized issuer. Every BTC on TON is 100% backed by real BTC, tied to the teleport process, ensuring secure and reliable transactions.” (TONNE)

July 17: IoTeXan Ethereum-compatible blockchain platform optimized for decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) projectsis launching its 2.0 platform to democratize access to DePIN by partnering with NEAR, Filecoin, RISC Zero, Espresso and more, “to improve data availability, storage, compute and sequencing,” according to the team: “IoTeX 2.0 Introducing DePIN Infrastructure Modules (DIMs) and the Modularity Security Pool (MSP) to reduce development costs and support sustainable growth of DePIN projects, positioning itself as the largest decentralized hub for devices and data that will be deployed by humans and AI agents.” According to a press release: “The introduction of the Modularity Security Pool (MSP) enables DePIN layer 1s to return their Proof-of-Stake security to DIMs, fueling growth and promoting sustainability within the ecosystem.”

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U.Today creator Billy Markus, known as Shibetoshi Nakamoto on social media, took to his X account to share his thoughts on where things stand with millennials’ retirement savings right now.

As he often does, Markus added a dash of irony to his opinion, but that’s apparently how he continues to capture the interest of his 2.1 million X followers.

The numbers revealed by Markus suggest that, so far, millennials’ retirement savings are nowhere near their target and amount to approximately one.

Markus highlights the main problem with millennial retirement savings

Shibetoshi Nakamoto lingered on the statistic that millennials need about $1.65 million for a comfortable retirement — without citing a reference, however. He then wryly stated that they probably haven’t saved much so far, and mentioned the figure of $62,600 — perhaps a random or metaphorical choice just to show that the current inflation in the US doesn’t provide the most encouraging environment for making regular, large savings for retirement.

However, Markus added that millennials have a plan to retire when they turn 59, posting a “grimace” emoji. Given the statistic that millennials (the generation born between 1981 and 1996) reached the ages of 28 to 43, those born in 1981 or later may have a hard time setting aside $1.65 million by the time they turn 59. That seems to be the message from Billy Markus, who sparked a heated discussion in the comments, where X users posted mixed reactions — from agreeing with Markus’s take with humor to sharing arguments about whether millennials will have to retire about 10 years after they turn 59 or with less money saved.

Many have also raised concerns about the current inflation in the US and the rising public debt, which can hardly have a good financial impact on the bank balance of the common people.

Did the founder of DOGE just suggest Bitcoin?

In his tweet, Markus mentioned the value of $62,600, which is how much the world’s flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was worth on Tuesday. Shibetoshi Nakamoto frequently talks about BTC in his tweets, commenting on Bitcoin’s price turbulence and Bitcoin investments.

Earlier this year, he even admitted that he would rather own a whole Bitcoin than a Dogecoin. So, he may be hinting at BTC and millennials’ love for this new fintech by mentioning the $62,600 amount.

This article was originally published on U.Today

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Bitcoin is currently in a lull between narratives. The excitement, speculation, and rapid pace of inflows from the ETF launch have subsided. There isn’t much good news on the horizon, perhaps until the US election in November. In the meantime, it seems that BTC is mainly facing crypto and macro headwinds.

In June, BTC nearly hit all-time highs before higher-than-expected nonfarm payrolls data sent prices tumbling to $58,000 despite lower inflation numbers. The start of Mt. Gox’s $9 billion BTC distribution and the sale of seized BTC by the German government sent BTC as low as $54,000, but it has now recovered to the low 60,000s. Once Mt. Gox’s distributions are completed in the coming months, it will remove significant price risk. Despite these negative factors, BTC has shown resilience. The next potential catalyst is the approval of an ETH ETF. With less liquidity than BTC, strong inflows could push ETH higher, although a BTC-like oversupply could occur.

Politically, we’ve seen Donald Trump include positive comments about BTC and digital assets in his regular campaign speech, taking an “America First” stance aimed at keeping jobs and wealth here in the US. If Trump is re-elected, the price of BTC will likely benefit (although the shape of the Trump Administration’s policy on digital assets is unclear). It’s possible we’ll see speculative buying leading up to Election Day as well — a positive narrative on the horizon.

Finally, we saw several major central banks cut rates in June, including Canada and the EU. As one of the biggest correlates of BTC price is the global market M2 LiquidityThese rate cuts suggest that the trend of increasing global liquidity is moving in a beneficial direction.

In early June, BTC nearly reached all-time highs before tailwinds pushed it to the lows of the June range. Despite the lower-than-expected PPI, the market showed signs of buyer fatigue. Mt. Gox later announced BTC distributions to creditors in July, and the German government sold seized BTC, causing prices to fall below $60,000. ETH remained more resilient but still below its May ETF rally.

BTC currently lacks a clear narrative, with only negative events on the horizon, giving buyers little to rally behind. In contrast, ETH is anticipating the launch date of its ETFs, which should generate excitement in the market due to its lower liquidity compared to BTC. Many predict an ETF S-1 approval sometime in July, which could spark interest and demand. Investors will also be watching to see whether altcoins and BTC rally alongside ETH.

On the political front, Trump continues to speak out positively about BTC and crypto in their campaign speeches while Biden remains largely silent on the subject. Later this month, BTC 2024 takes place in Nashville, with several politicians in attendance, including Donald Trump. This venue would offer a sensible place for a candidate to announce important positions on the topic of digital assets.

Please note: The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.

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