Ripple CEO expects crypto market cap to double by year-end: CNBC

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the entire cryptocurrency market capitalization will likely double by the end of 2024, according to a CNBC report on Sunday. The current global crypto market cap stands at around $2.59 trillion, CoinMarketCap data showed.

Garlinghouse told CNBC that he is “very optimistic” about macroeconomic trends in crypto such as the emergence of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF), which he said has brought forth “real” institutional investments in crypto for the first time.

Bitcoin’s halving event , slated for later this month , is another macro factor that may drive the entire crypto market value beyond $5 trillion, according to Garlinghouse. The halving event, which takes place about every four years, cuts mining rewards to bitcoin miners by half. 

Bitcoin halvings have often preceded crypto price rallies in the past. Analysts from Coinbase exchange told The Block earlier this month that bitcoin’s recent all-time high could indicate that the market has already priced in the upcoming halving event.

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The Ripple CEO also said that he expects more regulatory clarity in the U.S. after the country’s new administration takes office following this year’s election. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has expressed negative and restrictive views on the crypto space, exemplified by its long-standing legal feud with Ripple Labs.

Meanwhile, Ripple recently announced that it is jumping into the stablecoin market dominated by USDT and USDC. Its planned U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin is expected to be launched on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum.

David Schwartz, chief technology officer of Ripple, said that its project aims to boost enterprise-grade institutional adoption of the stablecoin, and its experience in regulatory compliance will give its stablecoin a “leg up” in the market.