Note that Balaji himself is a blockchain entrepreneur. In particular, he co-founded the cryptocurrency platform Earn.com, which rewarded users in digital assets for completing small tasks. The company was eventually bought by the largest US cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, which now accounts for about 50 per cent of all trading volume among US exchanges.

Srinivasan’s purchase of the platform made him a representative of Coinbase, but he is not currently associated with it. According to the Datawallet platform, the investor has a fortune of $150 million, so such a bet can hardly be called the event of his life. In any case, Balaji’s idea has gone viral – and is now being discussed extensively outside of the blockchain industry as well.

When will Bitcoin rise to a million dollars

The argument initially started on Twitter between Balaji and a user nicknamed jdcmedlock, who was later joined by another anonymous user. Jdcmedlock invited his followers to bet a million against him that the US would not experience hyperinflation in the foreseeable future. Instead, Srinivasan shifted the topic of contention to Bitcoin and its potential rise to a million dollars in just three months. How realistic are the chances of such an optimistic prediction coming true?


As a reminder, hyperinflation is inflation at a high rate. According to the Investopedia definition, it is an increase in prices of at least 50 per cent in a month. Accordingly, the purchasing power of money in such conditions is rapidly decreasing, and the quality of people's lives is falling.

How did this discussion even get started? It was triggered by the recent collapse of three major banks in the US - Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature. The authorities finally decided to safeguard their clients' deposits by injecting an additional large amount of money into the economy.

Such actions go against the policy of the Federal Reserve, which has been aggressively raising key interest rates and fighting inflation over the past year. In other words, it would appear that the bankers haven't beaten inflation to the punch, but they have had to print money again. Hence there are fears that the situation in the world economy will become even worse in the long run than it was before.


Bitcoin’s rise to a million dollars is exactly Srinivasan’s bet that there will be hyperinflation in the US. The cryptocurrency’s value won’t rise that fast on that scale, but if the dollar depreciates, a million looks like an achievable mark for the former Coinbase CTO.

Here is one of his tweets, the contents of which are cited by Cointelegraph.

I accept the bid. You buy 1 BTC. I’ll send a million dollars. That’s about 40:1, as 1 BTC is now worth about $26,000. The time frame is 90 days. All we need is a mutually agreed upon custodian who will settle everything even in case of dollar devaluation. If someone knows how to do it with a smart contract, we can make it an onchain so I can send USDC.

The logic behind buying 1 BTC is that, according to Balaji's forecast, the cryptocurrency is supposed to rise to a million dollars. That is, if that happens, he will simply get that bitcoin in the corresponding dollar equivalent.

In the end, subscribers helped both sides create a smart contract specifically to suit the terms of the dispute. Balaji commented on the next steps.

I am transferring $2 million to USDC for the bet. I will do it with jdcmedlock and one other person. Everyone else should just go and buy Bitcoin.

That is, if jdcmedlock and one other user win the bet, they are each left with one Bitcoin and one million dollars on top. If Bitcoin rises above a million dollars by June 17, the end of the betting period, Srinivasan gets 1 BTC each from the two people.

Srinivasan and jdcmedlock then confirmed that their bet was successful and the funds should be moved into the vault before the deadline is met soon. Such interesting terms of their bet sparked a lively discussion in the comments, with few believing that Bitcoin could grow to a million dollars in less than three months already.

According to the former Coinbase CTO, the global economy will undergo rapid change in the next couple of months. Hyperinflation will be followed by so-called hyperbitcoinization, which will see the world turn Bitcoin into a global store of value and also digital gold.

In such a scenario, BTC’s capitalisation would supposedly rise to almost $20 trillion, although today it is just over $550 billion. By comparison, the value of the entire US stock market was estimated at $40.5 trillion by the end of last year. From this we can conclude that Balaji’s forecast sounds overly optimistic and even slightly fantastical.

The latest news from the world of finance in the United States has clearly affected Srinivasan. As we have already noted, three major US banks closed down in just one week this month. Moreover, some analysts believe that a similar fate may befall at least another 186 American banks. Despite the apparent crisis, the cryptocurrency market has started to grow steadily, with Bitcoin reaching a new yearly high.

The criticism of Srinivasan’s decision is obvious – the scope of his prediction is too big. Here’s what Cinneamhain Ventures partner Adam Cochran wrote about it. His quote is quoted by Decrypt.

First of all, I respect Balaji. I don’t agree with everything he says, but I know exactly what it’s like to make bold and controversial claims, especially when those claims are at odds with the interests of others. The bet here is that within ninety days Bitcoin will reach a million dollar price.

And that’s about 3,600 per cent profit over the next 90 days. A rally from 2020 to 2022 yielded just 547 per cent profit, while a 2017 bullrun at much lower prices yielded just 1105 per cent.

Cochrane said the Srinivasan bet was an attempt to bring hope to the crypto market after the industry faced a tough crypto-zima last year, with prices plummeting and numerous industry companies collapsing. But is the case worth a couple of million dollars of its own money?

Perhaps, especially if Balaji manages to make a profit from it. As some in the blockchain community have pointed out, there are now dozens of interviews with the most popular publications, along with hundreds of articles about him. For example, Forbes has already written about the developments.

In addition, Balaji will get a huge dose of global attention after the controversy ends in mid-June. And it’s worth noting here that the expert is actively writing books, so the current fame is sure to have a positive impact on his earnings.


We think it's impossible for Bitcoin to grow to a million dollars in just a few months - especially given the cryptocurrency's already large market capitalisation. Obviously, Balaji is well aware of this too. Why, then, did he spend two million dollars beforehand? By doing so, Srinivasan has increased the popularity of his own brand and is sure to make additional profits from the sales of his books. But more importantly, he used the media to put the idea in the heads of investors and ordinary people around the world that Bitcoin could indeed be a bailout tool from the banks. And improving the reputation of digital assets on this scale is definitely worth it.


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