Bitcoin has broken through $100,000, and this may just be the starting point.
Bitcoin has broken through $100,000, and this may just be the starting point.
On December 5, 2024, at 10 o'clock, Bitcoin officially broke through $100,000.
In the past year, BTC has increased more than twofold; in the past three years, BTC has increased nearly sixfold; in the past five years, BTC has increased nearly twentyfold; in the past ten years, BTC has increased five hundredfold; in the past fifteen years, from the day of Bitcoin Pizza Day, BTC has increased forty million times... In sixteen years, Bitcoin has always been at a new starting point.
Over the past sixteen years, Bitcoin has been attacked by various governments but has also gradually been accepted and even publicly supported by them. It has been questioned by the public time and again, only to be held by more people. In 2024 alone, the number of users on the cryptocurrency exchange Binance exceeded 210 million. Each time people thought Bitcoin had reached its peak and was nearing its end, it was proven to be just a new starting point.
The narrative and significance of Bitcoin itself are also evolving, and people's views on Bitcoin have been changing.
Fifteen years ago, it was just a small experiment by cryptographers, where a programmer from Florida, USA, bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins; ten years ago, it was merely a payment method providing a breeding ground for illegal transactions such as gambling, drugs, and money laundering, with most of its use cases being illegal; five years ago, together with the cryptocurrency industry, it gradually grew into a new financial system, which can be described with inadequate terms, where there is a "crypto Nasdaq" (Ethereum), a "crypto bank" (Tether, Ethena), a "crypto brokerage" (Binance), and an account system (Metamask)... Each product has tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of users, and it has almost all the infrastructure and products of the traditional financial industry, but is more efficient, streamlined, transparent, decentralized, and globalized; three years ago, the cryptocurrency industry was no longer limited to financial scenarios but expanded to Web3 application scenarios, thus the next-generation financial system + next-generation internet system became its new mission.
Today, more people believe that Bitcoin is gold. Bitcoin's market value has reached $2 trillion, surpassing the market value of silver and is one-tenth of gold's market value.
Bitcoin has been recognized and supported by multiple sovereign nations such as the United States and Japan. This process took Bitcoin only sixteen years. Even more astonishing is that the blockchain technology behind Bitcoin has also spawned a whole new financial ecosystem and internet ecosystem, with thousands or even tens of thousands of cryptocurrency institutions in these two ecosystems further promoting the popularization of Bitcoin, making it truly possible for Bitcoin to become a global currency.
When Bitcoin reaches the peak of $100,000, everyone raises a common question: Is Bitcoin nearing its end? How far is Bitcoin from the end? Will Bitcoin have new narratives?
5 billion internet users have yet to come into contact with Bitcoin.
$100,000 is still the starting point for Bitcoin, and this time Bitcoin will welcome new "buyers."
The biggest new buyer this year is undoubtedly the world's largest fund, BlackRock, and the major buyers behind funds like BlackRock—American corporations and institutions.
In January 2024, the United States passed the BTC ETF, which means that publicly listed companies, pensions, funds from BlackRock, Stanford, and other institutions can publicly purchase and hold Bitcoin through ETFs issued by funds like BlackRock.
The approval of Bitcoin ETFs in the United States has triggered a wave of large institutions buying Bitcoin, with global large companies rushing in to purchase Bitcoin. In just 10 months, $100 billion flowed into BTC ETFs, with almost $10 billion being bought monthly through American fund companies.
Bitcoin also soared from over $40,000 to $100,000, largely due to the approval of the U.S. BTC ETF, which allowed U.S. institutions to legally purchase Bitcoin through ETFs. The approval of the U.S. BTC ETF and the subsequent performance data over the next ten months have already become a miracle in the history of ETFs.
What new buyers will emerge if Bitcoin goes from $100,000 to $200,000?
Firstly, from the institutional perspective, the institutions currently purchasing Bitcoin are still predominantly from the United States. The U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF is rapidly attracting capital inflows at a scale of billions of dollars each month, with no signs of stopping. Companies and institutions in the U.S. and around the world will continue to purchase Bitcoin through Bitcoin spot ETFs.
Globally, major economies like Japan, Europe, and China still have not completely lifted the restrictions on institutional purchases. Once major economies lift their restrictions, it will be another leap.
According to the famous "Time Machine Theory," innovative assets and innovative mechanisms often spread from the United States to developed countries, and finally to developing countries.
Whether in the asset and financial field: gold, Nasdaq listing mechanism, SPAC listing mechanism, or in the tech field: internet, chips, mobile phones, new energy vehicles, they often follow the Time Machine Theory.
Secondly, from the perspective of ordinary people, the penetration rate of Bitcoin is still far from enough. According to estimates by the well-known Silicon Valley investment firm a16z, there are currently about 30 million to 60 million active cryptocurrency users globally each month.
Even expanding this range to include users who have held cryptocurrencies, according to an analysis by Crypto.com in April 2024, there are 610 million cryptocurrency users globally. The world population is 8.2 billion, of which 5.4 billion use the internet, and about 5 billion internet users have not experienced cryptocurrency products.
The cryptocurrency industry hopes to form a new global financial system and internet system, allowing everyone to use cryptocurrency products just like internet products. In 2024, there are 5.4 billion internet users, but only 610 million cryptocurrency users, indicating a huge incremental market. The cryptocurrency industry is changing this situation; it is transforming the financial system and the internet system.
When the cryptocurrency industry becomes as widespread as the internet industry today, Bitcoin will reach ten times the current population.
Finally, there is one more critical buyer: sovereign nations.
After El Salvador, Bitcoin is expected to become the reserve asset of more and more sovereign nations. Especially after Trump's election as President of the United States, major economies like China, the U.S., Japan, Europe, and the UAE are expected to accelerate the adoption of Bitcoin as a national reserve asset, which will allow Bitcoin to once again welcome a leap.
Large nations personally entering the market to buy Bitcoin is not just a rumor. On November 22, according to Reuters, Trump's "Cryptocurrency Advisory Board" is expected to establish a promised Bitcoin reserve.
Trump has publicly supported Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry multiple times. During his campaign, Trump promised several measures to support cryptocurrencies, such as including Bitcoin in the national reserve, making the U.S. the world capital of cryptocurrency, and easing regulations.
Trump's proposal has received support from some political and industry experts. For example, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has proposed a bill to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, aiming to acquire 1 million BTC within five years and hold it for at least 20 years to hedge against U.S. national debt.
And when the U.S. adopts Bitcoin as a reserve, most countries around the world are also expected to allocate a corresponding proportion of Bitcoin assets, just like gold.
In summary, whether it is the 5 billion internet users, the $10 billion per month continuously flowing into Bitcoin spot ETFs primarily purchased by institutions, or sovereign wealth funds, they will all be potential buyers of Bitcoin and are the key "buyers" that will drive Bitcoin from $100,000 to $200,000.
$100,000 is just the beginning.
$100,000 is only the starting point for Bitcoin. If Bitcoin wants to rise from $100,000 to $200,000, it needs not only new buyers but also a new batch of believers and builders to expand Bitcoin's reach.
Cryptocurrency professionals may be one of the most exploratory groups in this world.
They not only need to understand the development of various blockchain technologies like ZK, but also need to be aware of new technological trends in various tech industries such as AI, VR, and the metaverse; they not only need to deeply understand American politics and elections, the timing and extent of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, the cryptocurrency policies of Hong Kong and Singapore, but also need to constantly pay attention to various macro events such as wars, economic crises, and stock market fluctuations; they need to understand the differences between public chains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Sui, and Base, and be familiar with concepts and sectors such as Web3 social, Web3 gaming, DeFi, and NFT.
From ICO to DeFi to NFT, and now to Mass Adoption, cryptocurrency professionals are constantly expanding the boundaries of the blockchain network, enabling cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to circulate and generate value globally.
Many people ask, what is the significance of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency? Why are so many people joining the cryptocurrency industry?
I often reply that when the value of Argentina's national currency shrinks by more than 50% each year, companies like Binance and Tether provide Argentinians with stablecoins to protect their assets from significant depreciation. This is the significance of Bitcoin's existence; when people want to transfer money to family and friends across borders, but traditional economic and political systems set up layers of obstacles, requiring high fees and long wait times, this is the significance of Bitcoin's existence; when, as a startup founder, it is difficult to collaborate directly and cost-effectively with employees from different currency systems in multiple countries, this is the significance of Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain.
Bitcoin has created value and is continuously exploring the possibilities of creating new value, from building a new financial system to building a new internet system. This path is still only partially completed, and the new builders still have a long way to go.
Written at the end.
During the Republican era, the first thing university professors did upon receiving their salaries was to rush to the rice store to buy rice, because prices would rise again after just one hour.
Such things are happening all the time, across generations, in every corner of the world. Some countries have milder symptoms, such as China, Japan, and the United States, while some countries have more severe symptoms, such as Argentina, and some countries may see their symptoms worsen at any time, like Russia and Ukraine.
Everyone has a good side and a bad side. The existence of a state has its good side and its bad side.
The emergence of the internet has made it impossible for most countries to arbitrarily block information, countering the evil side of state actions; the emergence of Bitcoin has made it impossible for most countries to arbitrarily issue currency, countering the evil side of state actions.
And the state cannot stop Bitcoin, because Bitcoin is just a technology, a tool. As Russian President Putin said on December 4 at the Russia Calling forum: "Who can ban Bitcoin? No one can. Who can ban the use of other electronic payment methods? No one can. Because these are all new technologies."
This is why Bitcoin can reach $100,000 each.
This is also why it is said that $100,000 is still just the starting point for Bitcoin.
This article is a collaborative repost from: Deep Tide.
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