The year 2022 was a difficult one for the broader crypto market. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in the world, suffered more than 60% in price decline, while the market lost more than $1.3 trillion in value.

This drop means that investors have seen the value of their portfolios go down the drain. Some individual investors have lost nearly all of their money.

The previous year left significant bruises on crypto investors and proponents alike, but despite the pessimism and bleak forecasts for BTC, there are still some optimists.

Tim Draper, a billionaire venture capitalist and bitcoin investor who has long been positive about the alpha crypto’s ascent, maintains his forecast that the cryptocurrency will reach $250,000 this year.

Draper is a longtime believer of Bitcoin and was one of the first investors in the cryptocurrency. In 2014, he paid $19 million for approximately 30,000 BTC seized from the dark web marketplace Silk Road and sold at auction by the United States Marshals Service.

In 2018, when one BTC was selling for about $8,000, tech mogul Draper announced his audacious $250,000 Bitcoin price prognosis.

The 63-year-old investor stated at the time:

“I’m either going to be really right or really wrong, but I’m positive it’s moving in that direction.”

Even with the bankruptcy of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the venture capitalist remains confident the crypto will reach the $250,000 mark.

As of this writing, BTC is trading at $16,836, 0.8% in the last seven days, data from Coingecko shows.

Draper says Bitcoin can help individuals enhance their financial independence by connecting those without bank accounts into the global economy.

The Bitcoin bull has consistently asserted that women will be able to propel Bitcoin past the 2023 threshold.

“My assumption is that since women control 80% of retail spending, and only one in seven BTC wallets are currently held by women that the dam is about to break,” Draper disclosed via email to CNBC.

Draper, who amassed his fortune from early investments in Skype, Twitter, Tesla, and SpaceX, refused to reveal the amount of BTC he possesses or if he has invested in other cryptocurrencies.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin experts and entrepreneurs have provided widely varying forecasts for the future of the cryptocurrency in recent weeks, with little clarity among analysts.

During a Monday interview with Bankless, Erik Voorhees, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift, is upbeat about a future price recovery for BTC.

He said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Bitcoin hit “like $40K” by the summer this year.

-Featured Image: Forbes

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