Bitcoin won’t be beaten as digital store of value: VanEck CEO

The CEO of investment management firm VanEck says he can’t see a world where Bitcoin (BTC) is overtaken as the leading store of value on the internet.

“I think it’s impossible for me to imagine some other internet store of value [will] leapfrog Bitcoin,” Jan van Eck said in a Dec. 16 interview with CNBC.

“There’s 50 million users of Bitcoin, so it’s got network effects.”

The CEO —  $76.4 billion in assets under management — also crushed accusations that Bitcoin is in a “bubble,” — explaining that no asset has ever been in a bubble that continues to outperform itself every market cycle. He added:

“Bitcoin is the obvious asset that is growing up in front of our eyes.”

Meanwhile, Van Eck expects Bitcoin to see all-time highs in the next 12 months.

VanEck CEO @JanvanEck3 expects Bitcoin all-time-high in the next 12 months. “It’s an asset that’s growing up in front of our eyes.” Also some good notes on the spot Bitcoin ETF effort and macro cycle. pic.twitter.com/02qZOVBPyx

— Gabor Gurbacs (@gaborgurbacs) December 16, 2023

The VanEck CEO said he and his late father, John van Eck — who founded the firm in 1955 — have store of value investing in their “DNA” and that he sees Bitcoin becoming an “accompaniment” to gold.

VanEck launched the first gold fund in the United States under John van Eck’s leadership in 1968.

VanEck is one of 13 applicants gunning for an approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the United States.

Related: VanEck files 5th amendment to spot Bitcoin ETF under ‘HODL’

The firm’s CEO expects all spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund applications to be approved on the same day.

ETF analysts predict the Securities and Exchange Commission will issue a decision on several pending spot Bitcoin ETF applicants sometime between Jan. 5–10, with BlackRock, Grayscale, Bitwise, WisdomTree, Invesco Galaxy, Fidelity, and Hashdex, and other financial firms also waiting for a final decision by the SEC.

Magazine: BlackRock revises BTC ETF filing, El Salvador’s crypto citizenship trending, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Dec. 10-16