The fourth halving of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) mining rewards is in the books, and the crypto world is buzzing. With Bitcoin’s inflation rate slashed and scarcity magnified, experts predict a price surge that could ripple through the entire market.
The halving means miners now receive fewer bitcoins for validating transactions, making each digital coin more valuable. This is expected to drive up prices over the next year or so, assuming that the demand for Bitcoin holds steady or rises. Without that market reaction, mining becomes unprofitable, and the transaction-processing system breaks down.
That’s obviously good news for Bitcoin investors. The leading cryptocurrency should be first on your list if you’re dipping your first toe into the crypto waters these days.
Growth-investing mastermind Cathie Wood of ARK Invest agrees: The inflation-dampening effect of the halving cycles plus the arrival of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) should push Bitcoin’s price to $1.5 million or beyond by the year 2030.
More-aggressive Bitcoin adoption in the financial community could lift the coin price all the way to $3.8 million, in Wood’s opinion. And I don’t think she’s wrong about that. The only question is how quickly traditional bankers will embrace the increasingly digital global economy.
But Bitcoin isn’t the only crypto that’s in play right now. Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and Polkadot (CRYPTO: DOT) also strike me as great long-term investments — for very different reasons.
Ethereum
Bitcoin and Ethereum often move together. Their price charts are almost twins, except that Ethereum’s long-term gains tend to be a bit loftier:
Bitcoin Price Chart
This happens for a couple of reasons:
The market sentiment about Bitcoin tends to color the entire crypto market. When the oldest and largest name in the business is writing headlines, the very idea of digital currencies gains space in the public discussion. As such, Ethereum rides its larger cousin’s coattails in a fairly direct way.
Ethereum is a crypto pioneer, too. Its smart contracts add value to the broader industry, and many popular digital currencies are actually ERC20 tokens on…
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