With only 8 days in, 2021 boasts a smorgasbord of choices for “Breaking News” headlines.
Our favorite? Bitcoin.
The flagship cryptocurrency has hit record milestones, making believers out of many. From Forbes:
“The bitcoin price has added a staggering 400% over the last 12 months, climbing as institutional investors warm to the cryptocurrency and payments giants such as PayPal add their support. Now, with retail investors increasingly eyeing bitcoin in light of its recent gains, new research shows how bitcoin ‘whales’ accumulated a huge number of bitcoin tokens in December, helping the bitcoin price to never-before-seen highs.”
The “whales” are holders of large amounts of Bitcoin, and large institutional investors are the newest species to test the water. Is it ironic that Bitcoin was meant to give payment processing power to the People, and in the process has attracted the same institutions it was taking centralized power from? Poetic Justice thinks so.
Due to the simple and predictable nature of supply & demand, this made Bitcoin more scarce- and hence, more appealing. “Fear of missing out” (FOMO) is arguably more contagious than Covid-19, and some big pockets have been lured out of the shadows by the veiled promise of unprecedented gains.
Big pockets mean stronger hands in the investment world- institutional investors have more capital, and thus are less likely to panic and sell at the slightest glimpse of a dip. In fact, analysts seem to agree that a huge percentage of Bitcoin (maybe even as high as 70% [ish]) could go into “cold, long storage.”
Scarcity is like the breakfast that FOMO eats, and it burps up a “BUY” signal to the entire market. The message is clearly being received, as the Bitcoin market is alive with excitement.
Bitcoin was only a rogue idea 12 years ago, and now it’s the 5th largest currency in the world. If it becomes the Digital Gold that it’s expected to be, $40k will eventually be a humorous reminder of Bitcoin’s humble beginnings.
While FOMO is the organizer of the Bitcoin rally, quiet subtleties work behind the scenes to fulfill a dream. Let’s not forget that this whole concept was the dream of an Anonymous believer in the concept of decentralization.
DeFi (Decentralized Finance) is almost as hot as Bitcoin right now, and the volatile political scene is the background noise that the cryptocurrency scene sways to. Is it possible that Satoshi Nakamoto timed his genius idea, to converge at the perfect time with the Perfect Storm?
If 2020 taught us anything, it was that anything is possible. Will 2021 be the year of the Bitcoin? Somewhere out there, we think that Satoshi Nakamoto may just believe it to be so. Worthy to note: Satoshi’s 1 million (untouched) Bitcoin is currently worth $40 billion dollars.
If there’s a moral to this story, it is to always follow your dreams. If you believe in them, write a 9-page White Paper and 12 years later you too could hold $40 billion (and counting).
If Bitcoin goes as high as some industry optimists predict, Satoshi Nakamoto is quite literally on track to become THE richest person in the world, by upsetting the status quo.
Well played, Satoshi… well played, indeed.