Corporate buy-ins could take Bitcoin price over $500K — report

Bitcoin (BTC) could fetch at least a $535,000 price tag if corporate buyers convert 10% of their cash reserves to the largest cryptocurrency.

In one of the various conclusions from its latest report, "Bitcoin: Preparing for Institutions," investment firm Ark Invest said that even a 1% allocation from S&P 500 companies would be enough to increase BTC/USD spot prices by $40,000.

Minimum corporate BTC allocation: 2.55%

The findings come as institutional buyers continue to focus on Bitcoin as a long-term alternative to cash, with one transaction in particular drawing attention after $500 million left Coinbase.

"Based on search volumes compared to 2017, bitcoin’s price increase seems to be driven less by hype. With bitcoin appearing to gain more trust, some companies are considering it as cash on their balance sheets," the report reads.

In terms of the longer-term impact that corporations could have on Bitcoin's scarcity, Ark forecast that probable allocations would likely far outstrip the 1% level.

"Based on daily returns across asset classes during the past 10 years, our analysis suggests that allocations to bitcoin should range from 2.55% when minimizing volatility to 6.55% when maximizing returns," it wrote, adding:

"Based on ARK’s simulated portfolio allocations, institutional allocations between 2.5% and 6.5% could impact bitcoin’s price by $200,000 to $500,000."

Deep-pockets narrative stays mainstream

Despite BTC price action failing to deliver a convincing continuation of its bull run in recent weeks, anticipation is building that the status quo will soon be turned on its head. As Cointelegraph reported, asset management giant Grayscale may provide the spark that reignites the market as soon as Wednesday.

"There is a large and emerging group of institutions that have an enormous capital base that are reallocating to this space,” Michael Bucella, general partner at fellow investment firm BlockTower Capital, told CNBC this week.

“And if you think about the supply-demand model of a commodity, the supply curve is declining over time to effectively zero, and the demand is increasing exponentially."

On Feb. 8, meanwhile, the largest altcoin, Ether (ETH), will join Bitcoin in seeing dedicated futures markets go live from CME Group.