Why 'Human Psychology' Could Drive Bitcoin to $50,000
*By Jacqueline Corba*
Bitcoin soared back above the [$8,000 mark this week for the first time since May](https://cheddar.com/videos/reddit-co-founder-on-the-state-of-cryptocurrency). The surge comes as more institutional investors look to grab a piece of the still-emerging crypto market.
"From a stored value perspective I'm a Bitcoin maximalist," [Fin co-CEO and co-Founder Sam Lessin](https://cheddar.com/videos/tech-entrepreneur-sam-lessin-authors-childrens-book-on-bitcoin) told Cheddar's Crypto Craze Thursday. "If you look at the broader blockchain and crypto ecosystem, I don't think people fully appreciate how deeply big a deal it is to have an immutable ledger globally."
Lessin, who served as a vice president of product management at Facebook from 2010 to 2014, joins fellow Facebook alum Anthony Pompliano in his bullish outlook on Bitcoin, the largest digital currency by market cap.
"I've got a high degree of confidence that at some point in the future its going to hit $50,000. And I've got some degree of confidence that it will be by the end of this year," Pompliano, who now runs Morgan Creek Digital Assets, told Cheddar.
The factors driving the value up? Human psychology, speculation around a [cryptocurrency ETF](https://www.coindesk.com/bitwise-proposes-etf-for-top-10-cryptos/), and growing institutional interest, said Pompliano.
Facebook itself even wants in on crypto. In May, [Cheddar reported Facebook is developing its own digital currency](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-plans-to-create-its-own-cryptocurrency-2).
"I have a lot of respect for the Facebook team," said Lessin. "What they have is a fundamental networkーthe biggest one ever in the history of the world connecting people." He called a Facebook move toward crypto an "obvious play."
For full interview, [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjExNzY=).
Snapchat has launched its first features to help users learn American Sign Language through its lenses and a game. The project was spearheaded by deaf and hard-of-hearing workers. Cheddar News was joined by Austin Vaday, software engineer at Snap, and his sign language interpreter, Jonathan Webb, to discuss the ASL Fingerspelling Lens and how the project came together. “We wanted to find a way to appropriately and properly educate the community so that folks can communicate with people like me using sign language," Vaday stated.
Brittan Heller, founder of the Center for Digital Civil Rights and a fellow at the Atlantic Council, joins Cheddar News to discuss the rise of sexual assault in the metaverse.
The second-largest stablecoin, USDC, backed by the company Circle recently received a $400 million funding infusion from traditional financial firms like BlackRock and Fidelity even as crypto reels from more high profile heists.
A group of Tesla shareholders suing CEO Elon Musk over some 2018 tweets about taking the company private is asking a federal judge to order Musk to stop commenting on the case.
The Week's Top Stories is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
Between Bells executive producer Conor White recaps some of the biggest stories of the week, and teaches Azia Celestino and Hena Doba a thing or two at the same time. It's This Week In Trivia!
Josh Thorngren, vice president of growth at the cybersecurity company Torq, joined Cheddar News to talk about staffing shortages hitting his industry, and what he thinks is behind it. "Over 70 percent of cybersecurity professionals say they're unhealthily stressed, and it's stress because we only talk about them when they failed," he said. "That makes the job harder day in and day out, and so it's not just a how do we keep up with the rising challenge, it's how do we actually retain folks who are in these positions today." Thorngren also stated that cybersecurity needs to transform into a less technical field in order to appeal to a bigger group of potential workers.
Twitter said in a statement Friday that its board of directors has unanimously adopted a “poison pill” defense in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s proposal to buy the company and take it private.
