In 2012, the United States GDP, at then, current U.S. dollars was just over $16.2 Trillion. Just for kicks, I wondered what Bitcoin's market value would need to be in 2012 dollars when all 21 million coins are in circulation in the year 2040 to equal the current GDP. Each coin would need to be worth more than $770,000 each. Since Bitcoin is currently divisible up to 8 decimal places, that means .00000001 of a bitcoin would be equal to about $.08.
Will it all come crashing down well before then or will we see a number of newly minted Bitcoin millionaires similar to what we saw during the Internet technology boom?
It may be ridiculous to think that a single Bitcoin could be worth over $770,000 and have a total market cap equal to the total GDP of the United States by 2040. Or maybe not.
After all, colonists on Mars and the moon aren't going to want to have to carry cash.
See you in 2040!