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Calamos Investments CEO John Koudounis is standing by his forecast that Bitcoin reaches $1 million by 2030, telling Bitcoinmagazine that the asset faces a “huge awakening” through 2028.
In an interview published on October 9, 2026, Koudounis pointed to banks lending against Bitcoin, waning volatility and new ETF products as the forces that could open the market to the largest pools of advised capital. He also addressed the Clarity Act and Bitcoin’s status as a commodity.
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Key facts
- Koudounis reiterated a price call of $1 million for Bitcoin by 2030, a target he has held previously.
- He described Bitcoin’s trajectory as a “huge awakening” through 2028.
- Calamos spent eight years researching Bitcoin before investing, per the interview.
- The firm offers what it describes as the world’s first downside-protected Bitcoin ETF, with 100%, 90% and 80% protection levels explained in the conversation.
- Koudounis discussed Strategy’s shift from convertible notes to perpetual preferreds, and the Clarity Act alongside Bitcoin’s commodity status.
Who Koudounis expects to buy next
The Calamos chief argued that sovereign wealth funds and large banks are now seeking Bitcoin exposure, a shift from the period when the asset drew mainly retail interest. Falling volatility and ETF access are, in his framing, the mechanisms that let institutions treat Bitcoin as a position they can size.
He was blunt about the remaining obstacle: financial advisors still avoid the asset. Koudounis also drew on capital controls, Cyprus and debanking, and framed Bitcoin against gold by arguing that a finite supply outranks one that is merely scarce.
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Why it matters
Calling the $1 million figure is easy; the substance of Koudounis’s argument is about plumbing. Bank lending against Bitcoin and packaged ETF products with defined downside protection are the kinds of features that let advisors put client money to work without carrying the full drawdown themselves. If those products gain traction, the buyer base broadens well beyond funds already comfortable with crypto exposure.
The eight-year research window Calamos cites is a reminder of how recently mainstream asset managers were outside this market. It also sets a high bar for the products themselves: a protected ETF only matters if advisors find the terms usable at scale.
What to watch
Two threads to track: whether the Clarity Act’s treatment of Bitcoin as a commodity is settled in a way institutions can rely on, and whether banks begin lending against Bitcoin at scale. Neither has a date attached in the interview, so progress will show up in product launches and disclosure rather than announcement.
Koudounis’s $1 million call is a forecast, not a certainty, and it should not be treated as investment advice. Crypto markets are volatile, and price targets can be wrong.
Source: Bitcoin Magazine
