Yahoo. It did it.
After fifteen years, bitcoin hit $100,000. Back fifteen years ago a mighty cheer went up when bitcoin hit $1.00. It was a muted cheer since there weren’t many bitcoin participants back then. But now following bitcoin has become a “spectator sport” where even if you aren’t a BTC investor, you still watched for that $100K print. Quite a feat.
At the same time that bitcoin hit $100K another sound was heard around the world. “DAMN.” That’s the sound of all the bitcoin naysayers realizing they have been wrong……again. Nope, bitcoin has not gone to zero and $1K, $20K, $50K, $70K, etc, etc was not the top. Oh well. Maybe $100K will be the top??
So how could so many people, including the world famous investor Warren Buffet, “miss” arguably the most significant new asset class of all time? Perhaps not fully understanding what digital assets (bitcoin) are? Age? Obviously bitcoin skews toward younger investors. Stubborn? Bias? Doesn’t matter, missing out is damaging to an ego and admitting being wrong is really tough.
Recently, as the price of bitcoin has risen, there have been comments that as a store of value or hedge against inflation bitcoin is a failure. Huh? So checking back…
The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.68% per year between 2010 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 44.76%. This means that today’s prices are 1.45 times as high as average prices since 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index.
Gold is up 142.1% since 2010.
The average closing price for Bitcoin (BTC) between 2010 and 2024 is $13,326.34. It is up 190,584,738.4% in that time. The latest price is $101,297, as of the publication of this story (12/5/24).
So, bitcoin not a good hedge against inflation? Not a good store of value? Hmmmmm!
But is the best yet to come? Bitcoin has undergone a huge transition. Individual investors now have ETF’s as a way to access bitcoin, institutions are rapidly getting involved with defined regulations, corporations are allocating portions of their cash holdings to bitcoin AND the possibility of soveriegn wealth funds allocating capital have replaced the hoard of day traders. Bitcoin is now mainstream.
Fifteen years. Bitcoin has survived slogging through alligator/crocodile swamps, swam in shark infested water, survived multiple assassination attempts, made it through smear campaigns and here we are. $100K+
