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Why Bitcoin Still Has A Long And Prosperous Road Ahead
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Tag: Last Week In Bitcoin
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This Dip Is An Opportunity To Stack More Bitcoin
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Politicians Across The World Advocate For Bitcoin As The Benefits Become Obvious
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Bitcoin ETFs And Politicians Being Bullish
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Bitcoin Breaches Its All-Time High, But There’s Plenty More To Go
Summary Of The Week
It isn’t every week that bitcoin sets a new all-time high, so this week was filled with celebration, especially as the first two bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. launched, sending retail investors into a buying frenzy as the green candles continue. With inflation in some of the world’s biggest economies on a rise, economies struggling to overcome the burden caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing noise from the money-printers in central banks across the world, bitcoin is poised to break out even more than it has this week. Let’s take a look at what happened this week in Bitcoin:
The Bullish ETF News And More
As the market prepared for the ProShares bitcoin ETF to launch on Tuesday, Monday set the industry abuzz. Grayscale announced plans on Monday to convert their entire $38 billion GBTC bitcoin fund to an ETF as soon as next week, should the SEC approve it by then. Billionaire Carl Icahn said inflation could prove bitcoin’s value, as if nothing has happened over the last decade to prove bitcoin’s value!
Tuesday had everyone talking as the first U.S. bitcoin ETF launched to much fanfare, hitting $250 million in trades within the first 15 minutes, as more firms confirmed plans to launch bitcoin ETFs in the near future. Bitcoin bull, Tom Lee, said he sees bitcoin ETFs hitting $50 billion worth of inflows within the first year, which is putting things lightly as Grayscale filed to convert their $38 billion fund into an ETF the same day.
With the U.S. focussed on the $BITO ETF on Tuesday, El Salvador’s national airline, Volaris, started accepting bitcoin payments for flights. Tuesday ended on a high note as the $BITO ETF surpassed a remarkable $1 billion in trades on its first day, setting up a hyper-bullish Wednesday.
Wednesday turned out to be a big day for Bitcoin. It started off with a new video showing off El Salvador’s 100% renewable bitcoin mining operation using geothermal energy generated by the country’s volcanoes. Bitcoin went on a run as the second day of trading for the $BITO ETF saw it’s trading volume surpass $1 billion just after 1pm. Bitcoin smashed through $65,000, then $66,000, setting up a new all-time high of over $66,878, becoming the world’s 13th largest currency in the process.
Later in the day, VanEck’s second bitcoin futures ETF was approved, which will start trading on Monday, October 25th. Billionaire Peter Thiel went on to say bitcoin is “hope” in fighting against tyranny. The day ended with $2.2 trillion asset manager, PIMCO, revealing plans to “invest more” in Bitcoin and digital assets.
Although Thursday saw bitcoin starting a correction, it remained bullish as former U.S. House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, said central banks will hold bitcoin as a “reserve against inflation.” The day’s bullishness continued as The Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund invested in bitcoin, becoming the first public pension fund in the U.S. to invest in bitcoin. The $25 million investment in bitcoin and ether was facilitated by NYDIG.
On Thursday, a team of J.P. Morgan strategists said that bitcoin’s current record run is being driven by the rising rate of inflation in some of the world’s leading economies, and the former chair of the SEC said, regarding the recent ETF launch, that bitcoin has “introduced a new paradigm.”
Later in the day it was revealed that over 1 million hodlers were on the controversial trading app, Robinhood’s waiting list for bitcoin withdrawals, clearly indicating their intent to hodl on, while also starting to understand the concept “not your keys, not your bitcoin.”
Not to let the rest of the week take all the glory, Friday saw CME overtake Binance as the world’s largest bitcoin futures platform. Valkyrie became the second firm in the U.S. to launch a bitcoin futures ETF and Bitmex’s CEO, Alex Hopter, said he expects bitcoin to reach $100,000 before the end of the year.
The Quiet Bears
This week was once again all bull, no bear. Funnily enough, you hardly ever hear from the bears when the bitcoin chart is a sea of green candles. Despite all of this, there were some red candles towards the end of the week, especially on Friday as bitcoin was aiming to dip below $60,000 again, but that’s not bearish, it’s a buying opportunity.
Verdict
If you want to own bitcoin, then stack some sats and store them in a wallet where you control the keys. It really isn’t that difficult to understand. However, retail investors and speculators love to trade in futures and the current bitcoin ETF craze in the U.S. seems to be all that’s popular, especially with Grayscale’s plans to convert its popular GBTC fund into an ETF. In the short term this should prove to be a catalyst to bitcoin’s growth, especially with global economic turmoil on the rise.
However, as seen in the 2017 bull run, institutions and speculators alike are very likely going to cause the next big correction. Obviously, until that does happen, if it does indeed happen this time around, bitcoin is going to be booming, and surges like this week (especially Wednesday’s) won’t be uncommon. Over the coming months we’re going to see new all-time highs on a regular basis, we’re going to see bitcoin breach six figures for the first time and many HODLers become millionaires for the first time.
I have no doubt that bitcoin is heading to $100,000; in fact at this point $100,000 is becoming an increasingly-bearish figure to bring up. Bitcoin may very well hit $200,000 or even $300,000 in the coming months as more and more people across the world adopt laser eyes and jump on the path to financial liberation.
If you look back at the week that was, it’s clear that bitcoin still has a lot of momentum left in it, and surges of 5% or 10% in a single day won’t be uncommon, even as it’s price becomes higher and higher and the critics become louder and louder. All I can say at this point, as I have for months now, is strap in, stack up and enjoy the ride, because the bull run is far from over…
This is a guest post by Dion Guillaume. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
Good News For Bitcoin In Autumn
Last Week In Bitcoin is a series discussing the events of the previous week that occurred in the Bitcoin industry, covering all the important news and analysis.
Summary of the Week
This week was filled with bullish news. As the market appears to prepare for an end of year run, the good word keeps coming. From El Salvador’s volcano bitcoin mining operations going live to a Missouri Mayor planning to give households $1,000 in bitcoin each, the week was something to behold.
Fall’s Fantastic News
Monday was a busy day in the bitcoin sphere, starting with notorious bitcoin critic and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon saying that bitcoin could go up 10x, but that he doesn’t care. On the same day, their competitor Morgan Stanley revealed they had more than doubled their investment in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust to 58,000 shares during the last quarter.
As bitcoin tipping on Twitter started taking off, Strike CEO Jack Mallers said that he would donate all the tips he receives on the platform to the Human Rights Foundation. Later on Monday, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, started advocating for bitcoin miners to switch to nuclear power, a clean and efficient alternative to fossil fuels. He said that Miami could become a clean bitcoin mining hub.
Ending Monday off on a high note, El Salvador revealed that over 2.25 million citizens now use the Chivo bitcoin wallet, no small feat considering it was only launched three weeks before. Coinbase revealed a new feature that would allow users to automatically convert their paychecks to bitcoin on the platform. Finally, U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters said the U.S. government should buy a strategic reserve of bitcoin.
On Tuesday, the world’s largest provider of bitcoin payments, BitPay, announced a partnership with Verifone to allow their merchants to accept bitcoin payments. ATM maker Athena also announced that Salvadorans would be able to receive their salaries through the company’s ATMs. El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, also shared a video teaser of the country’s plans for mining bitcoin using geothermal energy generated by the country’s volcanoes. “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” author, Robert Kiyosaki, warned that people should buy bitcoin before the biggest market crash in history, referring to an expected stock market crash.
On Wednesday, in an interview with Kara Swisher, Elon Musk discussed crypto regulations and suggested the U.S. government “do nothing” regarding regulating bitcoin and the overall crypto market. Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest also revealed that they had purchased $42 million in Coinbase shares on Tuesday.
Also on Wednesday, Umbrel unveiled their first plug-and-play bitcoin node, a big step in bringing users sovereignty. Despite China’s moves against bitcoin, it was revealed on Wednesday that there are still more than 145 bitcoin nodes active in China. Closing out news for Wednesday, Cool Valley, Missouri Mayor Jayson Stewart revealed plans to give each household in the city $1,000 in bitcoin.
On Thursday, as September drew to a close, El Salvador’s President Bukele announced that the country would give anyone using the Chivo bitcoin wallet a $0.20 per gallon discount on fuel, pushing for further adoption in the Central American nation.
Also on Thursday, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell officially stated that the U.S. government would not ban bitcoin nor any other cryptocurrencies in the country, in contrast to China’s most recent ban. It’s an important signal for people in the U.S. and throughout the world who are still wary of investing in bitcoin.
On Friday, the Salvadoran government started mining its first bitcoin powered by geothermal energy, becoming the first country to mine bitcoin, starting a green energy bitcoin mining revolution. Funnily enough, it came just two days after the CEO of the Tehran Stock Exchange resigned after bitcoin miners were found in the exchange’s basement.
Bearish News
Overall, the last week has been overly bullish, with bears likely entering hibernation for the winter as bitcoin is predicted to breakout over the next couple of months. The only bearish note from the last week was JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon once again spreading FUD, despite thinking bitcoin may very well go up 10x.
Verdict
As September drew to a close this week, it’s interesting to note how PlanB’s Stock-to-Flow model and predictions posted in June have come to life. On June 30 he published his model and made some bold predictions, stating that, in the worst case, bitcoin would end August over $47,000 and September over $43,000 — both of which proved correct. He went on to predict bitcoin above $63,000 at the end of October, above $98,000 at the end of November and above $135,000 at the end of December. Bullish “worst-case” predictions, indeed.
If you understand bitcoin and what it represents, then it’s easy to make the case that bitcoin will increase tremendously over the coming years. Bitcoin is already up 25% over the last quarter, despite all the FUD from the likes of China. As the year draws to a close, it’s more and more likely that bitcoin is preparing for a decent run that could see it top $135,000 and perhaps even go as high as $300,000 or $400,000.
Of course, it’s easy for me to remain bullish every week. Let’s look at the reasons I expect a run. Besides an entire country adopting bitcoin (El Salvador) and more and more institutions adding bitcoin to their balance sheets (thanks to MicroStrategy), there’s also the case that fiat is getting ready for a pounding in the months to come. The U.K.’s decision to exit the EU is coming back to bite them as fuel, food and personnel shortages continue to grow and make headlines. Then there’s Joe Biden warning that the U.S. could enter a recession and Janet Yellen warning the U.S. could run out of money in three weeks.
With the world’s “superpowers” finding themselves in increasingly turbulent times, their economies are sure to take a knock, which will affect the 66 dollarized nations across the world and the global economy. Everyone will look at alternate, safer investments and that happens to be the thing bitcoin is best known for. As more and more people and companies scramble to buy bitcoin, the supply will dwindle and the price will shoot up. Simple.
The last three months of 2021 will see bitcoin hit new all-time highs and it’s likely to hit six-figures for the first time. Bitcoin is here to stay and more and more people are going to realize it’s the best bet both in the good times and in the bad.
This is a guest post by Dion Guillaume. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
Why The Price Of Bitcoin Will Break Out To New Highs Soon
Last Week In Bitcoin is a series discussing the events of the previous week that occurred in the Bitcoin industry, covering all the important news and analysis.
Summary Of The Week
In what should have been a positive week for bitcoin, we saw dips and sideways action. Despite this, El Salvador continues making headlines as the country keeps buying the dip and citizens continue queuing for ‘coin.
As the global economy is left reeling from scandals, rising inflation and an impending economic recession in some of the leading nations, it seems almost inevitable that both large investors and smaller ones will start accumulating bitcoin as a hedge against economic turmoil, which is sure to send the price upwards.
The Bullish News Despite The Dip
Last Friday, U.S. President, Joe Biden said that if the U.S. hits its debt ceiling towards the end of October, the U.S. could enter an economic recession, which would likely trigger investors into piling into bitcoin as the U.S. dollar enters a state of economic turmoil.
This week started on a bullish note when El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, announced on Twitter that the country had bought the dip, purchasing another 150 BTC, bringing their total holdings to 700 BTC. He even offered some “presidential advice” by tweeting, “they can never beat you if you buy the dip.”
Not long after, Bukele stated that the country’s Chivo bitcoin wallet had over 1.6 million users, just two weeks after El Salvador officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender. That means that over 25% of the total population of the Central American nation now use the Chivo wallet. In the days that followed, pictures of people queuing to use some of the 200 bitcoin ATMs installed in El Salvador spread across social media, confirming the nation’s growing appetite for bitcoin, although the rush may have been from those cashing out to USD.
On Tuesday, BTG Pactual, an $80 billion investment bank in Brazil, launched a crypto trading app, becoming the first large financial institution in Brazil to offer customers direct exposure to bitcoin. The bank has a history of precedent setting in Brazil. In April of 2021, BTG Pactual also became the first Brazilian investment bank to launch a bitcoin and crypto fund.
Also on Tuesday, controversial trading app Robinhood announced that they were testing bitcoin withdrawals together with a new digital wallet to cater for increased user demand. No firm date has been set on the official rollout of the feature to their users. Later in the day, mining giant Genesis Digital Assets announced that it had raised $431 million in funding to expand its mining operations in the U.S. and Nordics. The firm raised $125 million in funding just two months before the announcement.
On Wednesday, Dutch football giant PSV announced that it is holding an undisclosed amount of bitcoin on its balance sheet after a sponsorship deal with digital exchange Anycoin saw the team paid in bitcoin. “The possibilities and the future that the world of cryptocurrency offers is very promising,” said Frans Janssen, commercial director of PSV. Also on Wednesday, it was revealed that the UAE government would allow tax-exempt bitcoin trading in certain economic zones within its capital, Dubai.
On Thursday, Twitter “broke” the internet when it started rolling out a bitcoin tipping service on the social network in partnership with Strike. Although initially only available to iOS users, the company said in a statement it hopes to roll out the feature to desktop and Android users in the coming weeks.
Also on Thursday, the University of Wyoming confirmed that it is mining bitcoin. This comes after the Wyoming legislature announced in April that it had earmarked $4 million for crypto staking, which would be run by the University of Wyoming.
Finally, as news of the latest Chinese crackdown on cryptocurrency trading emerged, U.S. Senator Pat Toomey said that China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin is a “huge economic opportunity for the US.”
Bearish News Contributing To The Dip
Bitcoin has seen its ups and downs over the last week as global markets were left reeling on news of the impending collapse of Evergrande, a $300 billion property giant based in China. Although bitcoin briefly dipped below the $40,000 mark, the price quickly recovered — until Friday, that is.
On Friday, the Chinese government once again cracked down on cryptocurrencies, saying that it is illegal to trade in any cryptocurrencies in the country. This is hardly news since China has shared the same sentiment repeatedly since 2012. The markets reacted negatively, despite news that Twitter was integrating bitcoin tips on the platform.
Verdict
News of Twitter finally rolling out bitcoin tips in partnership with Strike should have sent bitcoin on a decent run, however the Chinese government couldn’t let an opportunity to spread FUD slide, despite the impending collapse of property giant Evergrande, which accounts for nearly 2% of the country’s GDP.
What was interesting was U.S. President Joe Biden’s remarks last Friday just as the week started drawing to a close. Biden stated that should the U.S. hit its debt ceiling towards the end of next month, the U..S would enter an economic recession. Who’d have thought continuously printing money during a global pandemic wouldn’t come back to haunt them?
It looks very likely that the U.S. will in fact enter a recession which is likely to incentivise more large institutional investors and public companies to adopt bitcoin as a hedge against economic turmoil. It’s likely to be the catalyst that sends bitcoin on an upward trajectory, entering the low six figure mark, breaching many analysts’ predictions of a $100,000+ bitcoin price.
Despite a whole country adopting bitcoin this year, nearly countless companies adding bitcoin to their balance sheets and billionaire investors praising it every week, bitcoin hasn’t come close to its May highs, let alone the highs we’re expecting in the year ahead. But, just like the 2008 financial crisis inspired Satoshi to invent bitcoin, the growing crises worldwide will likely push bitcoin to great new highs…
This is a guest post by Dion Guillaume. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
National Bitcoin Adoption Could Drive A $1 Million Bitcoin Price
Last Week In Bitcoin is a series discussing the events of the previous week that occurred in the Bitcoin industry, covering all the important news and analysis.
Summary of the Week
Last week El Salvador’s official bitcoin rollout began, then Ukraine decided to jump on the bitcoin bandwagon. This week, Laos joined the fray with plans to allow bitcoin mining and trading in the Asian nation, just months after China’s crackdown on crypto.
It would appear as if every week a new country is jumping on the bitcoin bandwagon, billionaires continue to blow the bitcoin bullhorn and the plebs like you and me keep stacking sats. Here’s this week in bitcoin:
Bullish News
The week started off on a good note as Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, announced their bitcoin-friendly drive continues as the country would exempt foreign investors from paying taxes on their bitcoin gains.
Not to let El Salvador take all the glory, MicroStrategy CEO and bitcoin messiah, Michael Saylor, announced on Monday that the firm had acquired an additional 5,050 BTC, bringing the company’s total holdings to 114,042 BTC bought at an average price of $27,713 per bitcoin.
Also on Monday, Professor Mthuli Ncube, the minister of finance in Zimbabwe, said that the country would explore bitcoin adoption in order to cut back on remittance costs and stabilize the country’s economy which has been gutted over the last two decades. Brevan Howard, a $11.4 billion hedge fund, became the latest financial institution to start a bitcoin division, signalling more bullishness from traditional finance.
On Tuesday, Nayib Bukele revealed that El Salvador’s Chivo bitcoin wallet saw 500,000 registrations in its first week, adding hundreds of thousands of new bitcoin users to the ecosystem. Besides the infrastructure installed across the country, El Salvador also installed 50 bitcoin ATMs in cities across the U.S. to make it easier for citizens to send money back to the country.
Oaktree Capital’s chairman and billionaire investor, Howard Marks, said that bitcoin has its advantages over gold, in stark contrast to his opinion on bitcoin in 2017. Marks appeared on the “We Study Billionaires” podcast, having a lot of good to say about bitcoin.
On Wednesday, news came to light that the $4.2 trillion investment firm, Fidelity, had a private meeting with the SEC in which it urged them to approve their planned bitcoin ETF. The company gave a presentation that demonstrated “increased investor appetite” for bitcoin, the existence of similar funds in other countries and the growth in bitcoin holders.
On Thursday, news broke that Laos would legalise bitcoin mining and trading. That’s right, another week, another country. Laos, which has a huge surplus of hydroelectricity, is the latest country to welcome bitcoin and legislators are currently working on regulations to allow bitcoin trading. A total of six companies have been authorized to mine and trade bitcoin in the country.
Also on Thursday, Revolut, the $33 billion UK-based financial services firm, announced that they would pay for office space for 300 staff members in Dallas, Texas using bitcoin. The office space is managed by WeWork and Revolut cited saving on international remittance costs as one of the reasons for the move.
Last one for Thursday, and not really market-related, but Hungary introduced the world’s first statue celebrating Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Yes, Satoshi will become a tourist attraction for maxis from across the world.
Finally, on Friday, PayPal’s bitcoin buying service went live in the UK, allowing users to purchase bitcoin right on the platform. Just hours later, domain registrar Namecheap announced that they would accept bitcoin payments.
Bearish News
Despite the week being relatively bear-free, billionaire Ray Dalio decided he needed to stay relevant by throwing some FUD into the market. Despite some bullish remarks recently — even investing in bitcoin himself — Dalio said he doesn’t agree with Cathie Wood’s prediction that bitcoin would increase 10-fold, he went on to say that governments wouldn’t let bitcoin succeed and would be able to “kill it.”
Dalio’s sentiments scream “I need bitcoin to dip, so I can buy some more” and clearly shows his misunderstanding of how Bitcoin works, how decentralized finance and blockchain technology work. No government can just “kill it” if it’s in the hands of the masses, controlled by the community.
Besides Dalio, El Salvador’s bitcoin rollout hasn’t been all moonshine and roses. Ignoring the fact that bitcoin has yet to recover from its dip last week when the country’s rollout first began, the anti-bitcoin brigade in the Central American nation has grown.
During the week, protesters set one of the 200 bitcoin ATMs in the country alight in opposition to the regime’s bitcoin adoption and glitchy rollout. The protestors seem to have several concerns, some of which may be valid: bitcoin’s volatility, the lack of proper education on bitcoin in the country and, of course, then there’s the west’s FUD campaign, including from the likes of the IMF and World Bank, who would undoubtedly be threatened if bitcoin adoption worldwide picks up pace.
Verdict
Bitcoin is slowly approaching its 12th birthday. Over the years, bitcoin has gone from a niche internet currency that was nearly worthless to a five-figure (and counting) digital currency that has been adopted by a country, aging financial institutions and billionaires alike. It’s poised to become the global reserve currency, kick the financial tyrants to the curb and make near-instant, affordable payments across the globe the norm.
As more and more countries explore adopting bitcoin in one way or another, it’s become apparent that El Salvador has put the world on notice. Whether these nations just legalize and regulate bitcoin, adopt it as legal tender or use it as an investment vehicle, their interest is undeniable and growing by the day.
Bitcoin is slowly starting to become a (if not the) global currency. Every week another billionaire or trillion-dollar investment fund welcomes bitcoin with open arms. Every week a politician somewhere signals interest in exploring bitcoin in their country. Bitcoin is starting to take over.
We’ve seen El Salvador adopt bitcoin. We’ve seen Ukraine and Laos start pushing a bitcoin-friendly agenda and we’ve seen politicians from countries like Paraguay, Honduras, Ghana and Zimbabwe signal their interest in bitcoin.
It’s no longer a matter of “if” another country will adopt bitcoin in full form, but rather “when” another country will adopt bitcoin in full form. Bitcoin is starting to unite the world, albeit slowly, of course. The future looks bright for bitcoin to become the global currency…
This is a guest post by Dion Guillaume. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
El Salvador’s Historical Adoption Could Send Bitcoin Past $100,000
Last Week In Bitcoin is a series discussing the events of the previous week that occurred in the Bitcoin industry, covering all the important news and analysis.
Summary Of The Week
It’s been a whirlwind week in bitcoin as El Salvador officially started accepting bitcoin as legal tender, giving citizens $30 worth of bitcoin each and paving the way for further adoption around the globe. Global behemoths like McDonald’s and Starbucks started accepting bitcoin in the country, who knows maybe they’ll start doing the same elsewhere in the near future.
Of course, all was not well this week, despite it being what can only be considered a historic week for bitcoin. On the same day El Salvadorans queued to receive their bitcoin and start using it across the country, bitcoin saw a dramatic tumble which many consider a coordinated effort to undermine the currency. Here’s what happened this week in bitcoin:
A Historically Bullish Week
On Monday, bitcoin started off what many hoped would be a bullish week by breaching $51,000 for the first time since May 14, 2021, in the run up to El Salvador officially accepting bitcoin as legal tender. Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, announced on Monday that the country had purchased its first 200 BTC, it would acquire an additional 200 BTC early on Tuesday.
Interestingly, banks and markets across the U.S. were closed on Monday as it was Labor Day, but as we all know; bitcoin never closes.
Tuesday was a whirlwind day for bitcoin. Bill Miller, famed investor, heralded bitcoin as an alternative to investing in gold, saying “we are still early” in reference to investing in bitcoin and its potential value in the not-so-distant future. But that, of course, may have gone unnoticed by many as Tuesday was full of other more “important” news.
El Salvador officially implemented bitcoin as legal tender on Tuesday and started the rollout of its Chivo wallet, ATMs and kiosks across the country. That’s right, an entire country now accepts bitcoin. Local and international businesses across El Salvador started accepting bitcoin payments with fast food giant McDonald’s and global coffee giant Starbucks joining the fray.
Early in the morning, bitcoin breached $52,000, last seen on May 12, 2021, and looked poised for a decent run, but the market had other ideas. By midday, bitcoin tumbled by as much as 17%, briefly dipping down to just under $43,000 before recovering and ending the day a tad below $47,000. The dip was enough incentive for the El Salvadoran government to stack some sats, purchasing an additional 150 BTC, bringing their total holdings to 550 BTC. That’s right, a country HODLs 550 BTC in its treasury.
But Tuesday wasn’t all about El Salvador as NBA legend Stephen Curry and bitcoin exchange, FTX, announced a partnership to “demystify” bitcoin to the average consumer. As the day wound to a close, the head of Standard Chartered’s new bitcoin and crypto research unit, Geoffrey Kendrick, told clients in a note on Tuesday: “As a medium of exchange, bitcoin may become the dominant peer-to-peer payment method for the global unbanked in a future cashless world” and “cyclically, we expect a peak around $100,000 in late 2021 or early 2022.” That’s bullish for a $789 billion firm.
On Wednesday, Union Investments, a $500 billion investment firm based in Germany, stated that they had a bitcoin pilot program under way and they would bring exposure to bitcoin to its clients. Later in the day, Blockstream announced a partnership with Macquarie Group, a $428 billion investment and leading investor in global renewable energy infrastructure, to pilot a bitcoin mining facility and explore alternative carbon-neutral energy sources to power such operations.
Also on Wednesday, Dan Tapiero, CEO of 10T Holdings, said “Bitcoin is going up to $400,000 or $500,000 and potentially more.” The bitcoin bulls continue to grow by the week.
On Thursday, Ukraine made headlines across the world when its parliament passed a law legalizing bitcoin in the country. The bill was first brought up in the fall of 2020 and passed with a total of 276 lawmakers supporting it, and only six against it. Ukrainians are now free to trade and own bitcoin.
Also on Thursday, controversial investment app, Robinhood, added dollar cost averaging (DCA) to its bitcoin derivative product, allowing users to habitually purchase and save bitcoin on the platform. They did, however, make no mention if their service would improve.
During Thursday’s Bitmain’s Digital Mining Conference, Miami mayor and laser eye aficionado, Francis Suarez, concluded his speech by challenging the audience to “go out there and elect the next President of the United States to be a pro Bitcoin president.”
Lastly, on Thursday, Rick Rieder, CIO of BlackRock, said on CNBC’s Squawk Box that he owns bitcoin and that he believes its price could go up “significantly” in the future. In August 2021, BlackRock allocated over $382 million to shares of bitcoin mining giants Marathon Digital Holdings and Riot Blockchain.
Not Without Bumps
This week wasn’t without its bearish news. On Tuesday, as El Salvador’s rollout of bitcoin as legal tender was underway, bitcoin tumbled nearly 17%, briefly hitting $42,900 before recovering and ending the day just below $47,000. Many have speculated that the sudden drop was a coordinated effort by big players to undermine El Salvador’s rollout and dissuade other nations from following the same path.
Although the week started off great, with bitcoin briefly surging above $52,850 on Tuesday, its tumble on Tuesday has yet to see it recover to anywhere near $50,000, having dipped below $45,000 several times this week, most notably on Friday.
Speaking of Friday, Dmitry Peskov, the acting press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Friday that Russia has no reason to recognize bitcoin and that he is unconvinced that adopting bitcoin would bring any benefits to the Russian Federation. Not overly bearish but still not positive.
Verdict
Overall, I remain as bullish as ever. An entire country has made bitcoin legal tender and now HODLs bitcoin in its treasury, which is one for the history books should bitcoin hit analysts’ expectations over the next decade or two — $10 million per bitcoin anyone? Besides El Salvador paving the way for others, Ukraine legalizing bitcoin in the country is a big step forward, legitimizing bitcoin as an asset and encouraging wider adoption.
I remain skeptical as to whether or not this week’s sudden dip was a coordinated effort or just a normal market correction that happened to fall on the same day bitcoin made a massive leap forward. “Buy the rumour, sell the news” has been the mantra for many over the years and appears to be exactly what happened.
With Standard Chartered joining the likes of myself and Bloomberg in predicting a $100,000-plus target for bitcoin in the near future, I find solace in taking a macro outlook on the market, instead of fussing over the last week and what’s to come in the next. Bitcoin still has enormous room for growth and I remain firm in believing a six-figure bitcoin is not that far away.
This week was history in the making, and despite some headwinds, bitcoin is primed for a decent surge as the year comes to an end.
This is a guest post by Dion Guillaume. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
Bitcoin Is Lying In Wait
Headline: Bitcoin Is Lying In Wait
Description: Although the price of bitcoin remains relatively stable, there is reason to believe a major breakout is imminent.
SEO: Bitcoin Is Lying In Wait
By: Dion Guillaume
Last Week In Bitcoin is a series discussing the events of the previous week that occurred in the Bitcoin industry, covering all the important news and analysis.
Summary of the Week
This week was relatively calm. We briefly saw bitcoin surpass $50,000 a few times, however it has struggled to remain above this important threshold over the last few days. This could very well be the calm before the storm, as next week El Salvador will officially adopt bitcoin as legal tender. Not to mention that we’re just two months away from the Taproot soft fork activating. Bitcoin may very well be preparing for a decent run.
There were some intriguing bits of news that hit the stands — Twitter is working on integrating bitcoin payments, El Salvador is finalizing its bitcoin plans, mining takes the spotlight and the SEC’s chairman continues to sing bitcoin’s praises. Here’s this week in bitcoin:
Bullish News
On Monday, the bitcoin network set a new record with over $8 billion in weekly transaction volume recorded, a remarkable milestone as bitcoin approaches the $1 trillion market cap marker again.
On Tuesday, El Salvador’s democratic assembly approved the country’s $150 million bitcoin trust ahead of the nation officially implementing bitcoin as legal tender early next week. The launch will see each citizen receive $30 in bitcoin through the country’s dedicated Chivo wallet with 200 ATMs to be installed across the country.
Also on Tuesday, Genesis Digital Assets was offered an option from Canaan to purchase 200,000 bitcoin mining rigs. The firm acquired 20,000 rigs from Canaan, with the option to purchase an additional 180,000. Genesis currently accounts for 2.4% of the global bitcoin hashrate, and that portion could increase nearly tenfold by 2023.
On Wednesday, Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, urged citizens to mine bitcoin with the country’s excess electricity instead of seeking low-earning jobs abroad. As more counties and countries push forward incentives to welcome miners to their shores, Belarus may end up doing the same, to the benefit of the Eastern European nation’s economy.
Also on Wednesday, leading bitcoin rewards app, Fold, announced that it has partnered with OpenNode to operate fully on the Lightning Network by 2022, paving the way for fast and affordable payments in bitcoin.
Wednesday also saw bitcoin superfan and U.S. SEC Chairman, Gary Gensler, speak to the European Parliament about bitcoin, noting how the network operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and across borders. He said that “this innovation has been and could continue to be a catalyst for change in the fields of finance and money,” and “I think the transformation we’re living through right now could be every bit as big as the internet in the 1990s.”
Rounding off Wednesday’s busy day in bitcoin, some leaks were shared of Twitter beta testing a bitcoin tipping service in partnership with lightning payment app, Strike, which would later be confirmed by the company’s product lead. This follows on remarks from CEO, Jack Dorsey, in July that bitcoin would be implemented for tipping, Super Follows, commerce and subscriptions.
On Thursday, Vast Bank became the first chartered bank in the U.S. to offer bitcoin services. Customers will be able to buy and sell bitcoin directly from an FDIC-insured checking account, while its bitcoin custody solutions include a mobile trading platform with instant settlement to its accounts.
Also on Thursday, Franklin Templeton, an investment manager with over $1.5 trillion in assets under management and operating in 34 countries across the globe, published a job listing on LinkedIn looking for a ‘Research Analyst – Crypto Currency.’ Bullish much?
Late on Thursday, U.S.-based ecommerce platform Shop.com became the latest retailer to accept bitcoin payments courtesy of a partnership with crypto payments platform, BitPay.
Bearish News
This week saw several small protests across El Salvador against next week’s official rollout of bitcoin as legal tender across the country. Although the $30 each citizen will receive in bitcoin is a drop in the bucket compared to the global market’s daily volume, if the majority decide to sell their new holdings, it may end up dissuading other countries from pursuing plans to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.
Verdict
Twitter and bitcoin? Yes please! This week has been relatively quiet news-wise, but it could be said that no news is good news. Bitcoin has managed to hover between $47,000 and $50,000 for most of the week, but has struggled to breach $51,000 and head on a runner.
Next week will be a crucial week for bitcoin, historic maybe. El Salvador will officially embrace bitcoin as legal tender as they roll out 200 bitcoin ATMs and 20 bitcoin kiosks across the country. Each citizen will receive $30 worth of bitcoin through the country’s dedicated Chivo bitcoin wallet. A country is adopting bitcoin as legal tender and giving every citizen bitcoin.
What happens in El Salvador next week will either be hyperbullish or somewhat bearish. A smooth rollout isn’t necessarily a must, but ensuring citizens don’t just dump their new holdings and continue to use filthy fiat will be key. If their adoption of bitcoin proves successful over the next few weeks, or even months, then we could very well see more countries push through plans to do the same.
I believe we find ourselves inside the calm before the storm. Bitcoin is bracing for a breakout. El Salvador could be a catalyst, or the market could just turn out to be ready to rumble. Whatever happens, I’m stacking some sats and grabbing the popcorn.
This is a guest post by Dion Guillaume. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.