Tim Draper: Women will drive the next Bitcoin bull market

Renowned billionaire investor Tim Draper insists that a time will come when women begin driving up the price of Bitcoin as more retailers start offering it as a more cost-effective payment option at shops.

Draper, a Bitcoin (BTC) investor himself, told host Scott Melker on the Wolf of All Streets YouTube show last week that women could be key in pushing the largest crypto by market cap up to $250,000 per coin.

He reasons that as store owners begin to accept BTC as payment more widely, “all of a sudden, all the women will have Bitcoin wallets and they will be buying things with Bitcoin:”

“Then you’re going to see a Bitcoin price that’ll just blow right through my $250,000 estimate.”

Draper believes it is in retailers’ best interest to begin accepting Bitcoin sooner than later. He acknowledges that most store owners operate on low margins, so the reduced transaction fees compared to working with major credit card companies Visa or Mastercard could increase BTC’s incentives.

Fantastic podcast with @TheWolfofAllStreets. I recommend you listen to me at 2X speed. Slow speech day. Important points. #centralafricanrepublic #elsalvador #jeffbezos #bitcoin #freedom #trust https://t.co/nqXD3tLCZY

— Tim Draper (@TimDraper) May 28, 2022

The average credit card transaction costs merchants up to 2.9% in-store and 3.5% online per purchase, according to CreditDonkey. By comparison, the average BTC transaction fee comes in at a flat $1.4 per transaction, according to Bitcoin data compiler BitInfoCharts.

Draper hints that the benefit to retailers is obvious. He said that women “control about 80% of retail spending,” and that retailers can save a lot on fees paid to credit card companies by choosing Bitcoin. Women constitute 30% of all crypto owners in the United States, according to The State of Consumer Banking & Payments by research firm Morning Consult.

Related: Hodler's guide to travel: Which platforms accept cryptocurrency?

The level of adoption that Draper hopes for may not be far off, as Morning Consult found that about 24% of American households own crypto, which is up 2% from July 2021.

If Draper is right, then it could start a cascade event which would also validate Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach’s prediction that the global payments system SWIFT would not exist in five years. Miebach made the shocking prediction last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos.