{"id":150365,"date":"2026-04-15T14:30:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T14:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/?p=150365"},"modified":"2026-04-15T14:30:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T14:30:45","slug":"bitcoins-market-potential-may-surpass-gold-amid-iran-us-war-bitwise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/?p=150365","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin\u2019s Market Potential May Surpass Gold Amid Iran-US War: Bitwise"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 87% of Argentinians surveyed<\/a> in a January Coinbase poll said they view crypto and blockchain technology as a way to strengthen their financial independence \u2014 a sign that the role of Bitcoin in the global economy may already be shifting well beyond what markets have priced in.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin\u2019s Dual Role Draws New Attention<\/h2>\n

Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, made that case publicly this week. He said Bitcoin<\/a> could one day command a total addressable market larger than gold\u2019s $34 trillion valuation \u2014 but only if it manages to function both as a store of value and as an actual working currency.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a bigger claim than what Bitcoin bulls have traditionally made. For years, the comparison to gold<\/a> was the headline argument. Now, a war<\/a> is adding a new layer to that conversation.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/t.co\/jxIcOn1e23<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) April 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Iran has proposed allowing ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz to pay a toll in crypto<\/a>. The plan, reported in recent days amid escalating conflict<\/a> with the United States, is being watched closely by Bitcoin investors.<\/p>\n

To Hougan, it points to something larger. In a world where countries have turned financial systems into weapons, he wrote on social media, Bitcoin is emerging as an option that no single government controls.<\/p>\n

A $1 Million Price Target \u2014 And Possibly Higher<\/h2>\n

Hougan previously put a number on his store-of-value thesis: if Bitcoin captures 17% of that market over the next decade, each coin could be worth $1 million.<\/p>\n

Based on his latest comments, that figure may need to be revised upward if Bitcoin begins functioning like a currency alongside its role as a savings vehicle.<\/p>\n

At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades around $74,150<\/a>, with a total market cap of roughly $1.4 trillion. Gold, by comparison, sits at $4,854 per ounce, with an estimated market cap exceeding $33 trillion.<\/p>\n

Corporate treasuries have also been buying in. Data shows private and public companies collectively hold more than 1.5 million Bitcoin, valued at over $116 billion.<\/p>\n

Merchant Adoption Remains A Work In Progress<\/p>\n

Still, the currency side of the equation has ground to cover. A study by academic publisher Springer Nature found roughly 11,000 merchants worldwide currently accept Bitcoin as payment \u2014 a relatively modest number for an asset of its size.<\/p>\n

Adoption has been strongest in countries where local currencies have collapsed. Citizens in Turkey and Venezuela, like those in Argentina, have turned to Bitcoin to protect savings against persistent inflation.<\/p>\n

Whether Iran\u2019s crypto toll proposal signals a turning point for Bitcoin as an international currency \u2014 or simply reflects one sanctioned nation finding a workaround \u2014 remains to be seen. What\u2019s clear is that Bitwise believes the story is bigger than gold alone.<\/p>\n

Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 87% of Argentinians surveyed in a January Coinbase poll said they view crypto and blockchain technology as a way to strengthen their financial independence \u2014 a sign that the role of Bitcoin in the global economy may already be shifting well beyond what markets have priced in. Bitcoin\u2019s Dual Role Draws New Attention […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":150366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=150365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/150366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=150365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=150365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=150365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}