In a bold projection, Bitcoin BTC/USD bull and Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said Thursday that the apex cryptocurrency could grow tenfold to $1 million, eventually replacing gold as the top store of value asset.

What happened: During an interview with CNBC, Novogratz called Bitcoin an “institutionalized macro asset” that investors assess alongside traditional heavyweights such as gold, silver and the S&P 500

"People thought we were crazy," Novogratz remarked, recalling on the skepticism that once surrounded the cryptocurrency.

This turnaround, Novogratz argues, happened after BlackRock's Larry Fink, one of Wall Street's most influential voices, threw his weight behind Bitcoin.

“Once Larry Fink said BlackRock is getting behind this, all that pushing the snowball uphill that started rolling downhill. And now we’ve got all these treasury companies buying Bitcoin. We’ve got sovereign wealth buying Bitcoin. We’ve got retail investors buying Bitcoin,” Novogratz said. “I think that’s now a ball rolling downhill.”

Novogratz predicted that over time, young people would find it more appealing than the older generation.

“And so gold slowly gets replaced by Bitcoin. If you look at gold’s market cap and Bitcoin’s market cap, Bitcoin has a long way to go, 10x, and so that’s $1 million in Bitcoin just to be where gold is.”

Get Started

Trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and More Instantly — No Wallets, No Hassle

Speculate on price movements, claim up to $200 in bonuses, and start with risk-free paper trading with crypto futures on Plus500.

Get Started

Disclosure: 82% of retail CFD accounts lose money

As of this writing, gold was indeed the most valued asset in the world, with a capitalization of around $23.144 trillion. Bitcoin’s market capitalization stood at $2.066 trillion.

See Also: Forget Dollars: Willy Woo Says Bitcoin Will Be Priced Against Global GDP — ‘Gold Used To Be That Money, BTC Is The Challenger’

Why It Matters: Interestingly, Novogratz's optimism about Bitcoin displacing gold comes at a time when the apex cryptocurrency has sharply fallen due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

In fact, it was gold that behaved like a risk-off asset as investors sought refuge in the safe haven following Israel’s strikes on Iran.

Price Action:  At the time of writing, BTC was exchanging hands at $104,367.99, down 3.62% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Spot gold was up 0.83% to $3,414.82 per ounce as of this writing.

Read Next: 

• Trump Family-Backed Bitcoin Mining Firm Mines $23 Million Worth Of BTC, Signals More Accumulation In The Future

Image Via Shutterstock