The age of Bitcoin has only just begun. Blockchain-based cryptocurrencies have been around for over a decade. In that time the price has crashed, soared, and everything in-between.

In 2017, Bitcoin had an incredible year, with a bull run that rewarded investors with a 1,350% return and an all-time high price of $20,000. 2018 wasn’t as kind, however. Bitcoin lost 70% of its value, dropping to below $4,000 to close out the year.

Now everyone’s favorite crypto is back. The coronavirus pandemic has created the perfect storm for Bitcoin. With a few strokes on a computer, the U.S. Federal Reserve created money out of nothing. They printed money at an unprecedented rate, which will send inflation soaring.

“What we’re working with now is fake money, a fake measuring rod,” longtime Federal Reserve critic and former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul told USA TODAY. “It is unbelievable.”

This has gotten Bitcoin investors in a Bullish mood. After its crypto’s harsh crash in March, Bitcoin is up 300% and is brushing an all-time high price.

While it has grown considerably, the asset remains relatively cheap with analysts predicting it to reach over $100,000 in 2021. Early bitcoin investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss had this to say about the crypto recently:

“We think it will be the best performing asset of the current decade,” Tyler Winklevoss said in an interview with Seema Mody on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Monday.

“Our thesis is that Bitcoin is gold 2.0 and it will disrupt gold. If it does that it has to have a market cap of $9 trillion. So we think bitcoin could price one day at $500,000 a bitcoin. So at $18,000 bitcoin it’s a hold or if you don’t have any its a buy opportunity because we think there’s a 25x from here,” Tyler expounded.

Now is the time to invest in Bitcoin, and here are 3 simple reasons why.

1. The blockchain network is growing

Sending Bitcoin is like texting. You can do it across the globe, in any amount, and in increasingly rapid times. It’s also decentralized, which means you don’t have to rely on the bank or any other third-parties.

Furthermore, leading crypto wallet company, Blockchain wallet’s userbase has steadily increased throughout 2020. The company showed an increase from 43 million to over 58 million wallets in the past twelve months.

Over 100,000 merchants worldwide now accept Bitcoin. Some of my favorite include:

• Microsoft
• Starbucks
• Newegg
• Whole Foods
• KFC Canada

Additionally, fintech companies Paypal and Square voiced active support for crypto this year. PayPal’s Venmo app has 40 million users as of the first quarter of 2019 while Square’s Cash App boasts an impressive 15 million.

Bitcoin is gold 2.0 — it’s currency redefined — and everyone’s trying to get a piece of the pie.

Satoshi Nakamoto, the person or group of developers who created Bitcoin envisioned the asset one day dethroning precious metals:

“As a thought experiment, imagine there was a base metal as scarce as gold but with the following properties:
– boring grey in colour
– not a good conductor of electricity
– not particularly strong, but not ductile or easily malleable either
– not useful for any practical or ornamental purpose
and one special, magical property:
– can be transported over a communications channel
If it somehow acquired any value at all for whatever reason, then anyone wanting to transfer wealth over a long distance could buy some, transmit it, and have the recipient sell it.” — Satoshi Nakamato

2. A generational shift in wealth is happening now

Within the next few decades, Millenials will become the wealthiest generation in history. Baby Boomers are set to pass on a massive $68 trillion to their children, the largest generational wealth transfer ever.

Everyone's excited — except the banks. Bitcoin was created after the 2008 financial crisis because there was a serious mistrust in banks. Millennials are following suit.

According to the Millennial Disruption Index — a 3-year study of 10,000 Millennials, the majority (71%) of Millennials reported that they would rather go to the dentist than listen to anything banks have to say.

“The 2008 financial crisis was the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression, inflicting widespread, devastating costs on millions of American families,” said Ranking Member Waters. “All told, more than $13 trillion of household wealth vanished, 11 million individuals were displaced from their homes, and nine million Americans lost their jobs.”

Sorry isn’t cutting it for millennials or Gen Z. A quarter of American Millennials, aged between 24 and 38, and earning $100,000 in individual or joint income, or owning $50,000 in investable assets, are either holding or using cryptocurrencies.

Another survey, commissioned by the independent research firm Provoke Insights, asked 1,000 online investors in the U.S., ages 20 through 65, about stock exchanges, cryptocurrency exchanges, and 401(k)s. 43% of millennial respondents said they trusted cryptocurrency exchanges more than U.S. stock exchanges.

When the generational shift in wealth happens, the banks will slowly evaporate. It may seem preposterous right now, but the data indicates otherwise.

3. It’s still early to invest

Bitcoin is currently valued at around $19,000, and yet, many investors think that’s peanuts compared to what it will one day become:

“I don’t think it’s that crazy to see a $100,000 Bitcoin price by the end of 2021,” longtime crypto investor Anthony Pompliano said.

However, crypto is an extremely volatile market, so it’s important to tread lightly (e.g. do not mortgage your house like

Tim Denning’s friend). It should be noted, however, that Bitcoin has survived every crash to date. In fact, it’s soared past records afterward.

Here are a few key questions to ponder over the future of Bitcoin:

• Will crypto get a verified exchange-traded fund making it easier for people to invest?
• Can it overtake even a quarter of the gold market?
• What if Bitcoin replaces the currency of nations plagued by hyperinflation?
• Can crypto become the primary way to pay on mobile? (as potentially alluded to by Square and PayPal’s support for it)

The market for Bitcoin to grow is massive. We’re still in the Wild West days of crypto and blockchain, after all. Now is the perfect time to invest while the prices are still within reach.

“Back in 2013, there was a question about whether bitcoin was going to be outlawed. We’re way past that. We believed in healthy, thoughtful regulation. We don’t see that not continuing. We think bitcoin’s here to stay, we think thoughtful regulation around it in the U.S. and other sophisticated jurisdictions is also here to stay,” Tyler Winklevoss said.

“Bitcoin is still the best performing asset of the year, even compared to equities,” he added.