Happy Thursday! This is BTCulture and we're sending you into the end of the week with some recent thoughts about Bitcoin and financial markets. Here's what we got today:
Bitcoin News from 2022
Bitcoin's Characteristics
Momentum and Adoption
The Race to the Final Bitcoin
The world is evolving, and so is money. From seashells and skins to gold, to fiat cash, and now, Bitcoin. Bitcoin has been at the forefront of the digital asset movement since its creation in 2009. And sure...over the years, Bitcoin has faced its fair share of skepticism and criticism from traditional investors and financial institutions. However, the tide is changing, and due to Bitcoin's limited supply, security, and decentralization, its adoption rate is growing faster than ever before. Lets dive a little deeper...
The rise of Bitcoin can be attributed to several factors, but its scarcity is one of its most significant assets.
How scarce? Well, there are about 56 MILLION millionaires in the world, and only a maximum of 21 million Bitcoin available.
Bitcoin's limited supply and the fact that it's governed by code provide an alternative to traditional money. Fiat cash, backed by nothing, has lost value over the years, with the most recent inflation reports showing that individuals lose at least 6% of their purchasing power every year.
This scarcity is driving public companies, investment portfolios, hedge funds, banks, nation-states, and average joes (me) to buy and hold Bitcoin.
In 2022, Bitcoin adoption gained momentum as several major players in the industry made significant announcements that showed an increasing interest in Bitcoin and its potential as a valuable asset.
Here are some major headlines from last year:
El Salvador and Central African Republic adopted Bitcoin as legal tender (with other nearby countries researching and watching carefully).
20+ publicly owned companies have Bitcoin on their balance sheet
BlackRock offers Bitcoin to clients and partnered with Coinbase
Google announces partnership with Coinbase
Fidelity offers Bitcoin in retirement accounts and offer commission-free trading
World largest bank, BNY Mellon, offers Bitcoin to clients
Strike partners with Shopify and NCR
Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, and Blockstream are mining Bitcoin using solar power
Exxon Mobil is using excess natural gas to mine Bitcoin
Bitcoin's Hash rate is at an all-time high (security)
"You’re just telling me to buy Bitcoin because you already have some and you want to pump the price.”
The amount of times that statement has been used as a rebuttal is just as fascinating as it is untrue. I am not a financial expert and I certainly don't have a crystal ball. However, the Bitcoin adoption statistics and personal sovereignty narratives are hard to ignore. Bitcoin represents the digital transformation of capital, granting individuals financial inclusion and the ability to move money/property anywhere in the world using a smartphone. Unlike our current Federal Reserve and banking system, which is built on trust... Bitcoin is the first-ever, truly scare, global digital asset that is self-operating, decentralized, and governed by code, regardless of consumer demand. Secured by miners and nodes scattered across the globe working to verify transactions, Bitcoin is both a monetary asset AND monetary network. Investing in and of itself is a game, and I like to imagine Bitcoin as a game. Those that are financially literate and put their cash to work to acquire assets end up winning. As people around the world wake up to this reality, Bitcoin will become a black hole of monetary energy, sucking up money from almost every sector of the world. Bitcoin is perfect money. Satoshi Nakamoto's 13,000 lines of code, human's emergence into the digital economy, and the FED's perverted fiscal policy decisions has made Bitcoin the apex predator of assets in the last century. Moving up the ranks and shooting for Gold's market cap...
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, Bitcoin is not just a hype. The ups and downs of the business cycle are inevitable. And although 2022 was a bad year for all major asset classes, don't let it distract you from the bigger picture. The recent bank failures, money printing, and overall loss of faith in the debt spiraled system mixed with... Bitcoin's predictable, programmable monetary policy is the perfect storm for adoption. Growing at a remarkable pace, recent estimates show that 100+ million people are expected to own Bitcoin in 2023. The need for 8 billion people to protect their purchasing power has never been stronger and Bitcoin is offering that alternative. With the next halving set to occur around March 2024 and less than 2 million Bitcoins left to be mined....don't miss what is being built behind the scenes. It is a race to acquire as much Bitcoin as you can before the rest of the world figures it out.
APPETIZERS
-Fidelity Digital Assets quietly opens BTC trading to 37 million retail accounts. Read more. -El Salvador launches BTC/Lightning development courses for students. Read more. -First nuclear-powered Bitcoin mining operation goes online in Pennsylvania. Read more. -South Dakota Governor vetoes anti-bitcoin bill. Read more. -U.S. Court looking to overturn SEC denial of Grayscale Spot ETF. Read More.
Upcoming Events
March 21st – Next FOMC interest rate meeting April 12th – Release of March CPI data
That's all for today - have a good weekend! Scott Bruner, BTCulture
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DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this email is intended to serve as financial advice. I am not a financial advisor. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets. Please be careful and do your own research.