Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of blockchain startup Ripple, foresees the collective market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market exceeding $5 trillion this year.

In an interview with CNBC, Garlinghouse expressed his optimism, citing significant macro factors such as the introduction of the first U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the upcoming bitcoin “halving.”

Garlinghouse emphasized the impact of these developments on institutional involvement, stating, “I’ve been around this industry for a long time, and I’ve seen these trends come and go… I’m very optimistic.”

He pointed out that the ETFs are attracting real institutional money for the first time, leading to increased demand while supply diminishes.

Additionally, the bitcoin halving event, occurring roughly every four years, reduces the total mining reward to bitcoin miners, thereby tightening supply.

Garlinghouse predicted that the overall crypto market capitalization, currently around $2.6 trillion as of April 4, could double by the end of the year, reaching $5.2 trillion.

He attributed this forecast to the combined influence of macroeconomic factors.

Bitcoin, the leading digital currency, has surged over 140% in the past 12 months, reaching a record high above $73,000 on March 13, according to CoinGecko data.

Despite fluctuations, it remains a significant driver of gains in the broader market, accounting for approximately 49% of the entire crypto market with a market capitalization of $1.3 trillion as of April 1.