Bitcoin has taken a massive dip in recent weeks. Every year, months, weeks and days again, such crashes are a good reason to declare Bitcoin dead – at least for the more skeptical observers. Others see it as a fabulous way to buy, they shout “Buy the fucking dip!”.
In this opinion ECHO special, we go in search of clues.
“So this is the end of Bitcoin”
We start our journey through the Bitcoin dips in 2011. More precisely, on June 20, when the Bitcoin rate of $ 17 (!) had fallen to smaller cent amounts. The problem: MtGox, then the largest (and only) Bitcoin exchange, had fallen victim to an attack, customer data had been stolen. Reason enough to declare Bitcoin dead in a Forbes article.
Fun fact: If you had bought Bitcoin for $1,000 at that time, even before the first MtGox faults, you would be worth almost $ 1.2 million today. If you had bought the dip, you would be scratching at the billion mark.
“Bitcoin is dead”
We are fast-forward to February 26, 2014. MtGox had finally pulled out, the mood in the crypto community could have been better. As the streetinsider headlines: “Bitcoin is dead”. In a conversation with the then head of Forex at Citibank, Steven Englander, the magazine identified the major dangers posed by Bitcoin:
- People (and businesses) on the street lose confidence in the security of transactions, as well as the security of their Bitcoins
- Other Cryptocurrencies with Better Features are Coming and Displacing Bitcoin
- Traditional financial institutions use the generic Bitcoin technology and compete with the cryptocurrency, but without decentralization and in a regulated framework.
Do these arguments sound familiar to you? Us too. Oh yes: If Steven Englander had put $1,000 into Bitcoin at that time, they would be worth almost $ 40,000 today.
John McAfee Reveals Why BTC is Scam
Does anyone still know John McAfee, the paranoid Internet millionaire, gun freak and inventor of the McAfee antivirus? According to the less well-known Natural News in this country, on September 17, 2017, he “accidentally revealed” that Bitcoin is a scam. The rationale? McAffee explained in an interview how the proof-of-work consensus works and why it makes Bitcoin valuable.
The shrewd editorial team of the Natural News turned it into a slightly dented shoe: if Bitcoin, according to the magazine, had fallen below $ 1,000 at that time, it would no longer be worth mining it further:
The only thing that ensures that Bitcoin mining is still profitable is the bubble around Bitcoin. And because all the bubbles will burst at some point, Bitcoin mining will also reach the point where it is no longer worth the investment in hardware, electricity and time. In addition, there is the 21 million coin limit, which is getting closer and closer, which will herald the end of Bitcoin mining anyway.
Mike Adams, Natural News
If Mike Adams had put $ 1,000 into this bubble at that time, he could have cashed out over $ 5,000 today (or even three months later).
And now?
If you had invested $ 1,000 in Bitcoin in May 2022, when Ross Clark headlined “Crypto is dead” in The Spectator, that would now be just under $ 600. Stupid run. Right? Not mandatory. To be precise, you would only have the $600 if you were selling now. Otherwise, you would have 0.000047 BTC, no matter how the price is currently. And they can be worth $2,000, $1,000, or nothing at all in a year.
Anyone who gets restless in such market phases should consider why they are investing in BTC and the crypto market. Is it pure speculation? Or about the technology, about a decentralized monetary system? Is it about an alternative system to euros, US dollars and co.?
Because: From a fundamental point of view, nothing has changed. The blockchain has been running rock-solid for almost 12.5 years now. The current price distortions will not change that either.
