Ronnie Moas, the founder of Standpoint Research, thinks bitcoin’s price could hit $5,000 within a year. He said bitcoin is only beginning to gain traction, and it could reach $5,000 in a few months.

Moas, a stock research analyst, joins those who note that because only 21 million bitcoin can exist, the increasing demand will naturally drive up its price. Bitcoin tripled in value this year when it hit a record $3,025.47 on June 11. On Wednesday, it traded near $2,600, which more than doubled its $968 price on Dec. 31, 2016.

Couldn’t ‘Keep His Hands Off’

Moas said he could not keep his hands off such an appreciating asset, and recently purchased his first bitcoin. Losing money on cryptocurrencies would not be more painful than not acting, he told CNBC. Moas said he invested a few hundred dollars in bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin through Coinbase. He plans to invest more in the future. He plans to release a 40-page report in the next few weeks on cryptocurrencies. On Sunday, Sheba Jafari, a technical analyst at Goldman Sachs, said bitcoin could get as high as $3,915.

Bitcoin Isn’t Overvalued

Moas said there will be some hysteria in the next six to 12 months, but bubble territory is a long way away for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Because so little global capital is in cryptocurrencies, these currencies can absorb more capital without becoming overvalued, Moas said. The value of the world’s debts and stocks rose to $212 trillion in 2010, according to a McKinsey Global Institute estimate. The market capitalization of cryptocurrencies, by contrast, rose from less than $20 billion at the beginning of 2017 to around $100 billion, based on coinmarketcap.com data, an amount that is less than a tenth of global capital markets. Bitcoin’s market value is about $42 billion. Moas said there will still be scams and people losing a lot of money with cryptocurrencies, as with every new technology. But in his view, cryptocurrency is here to stay. He said we are in the second inning of a 9-inning baseball game. Many also believe blockchain technology, which supports bitcoin, will change the way the world operates, as did the Internet.