The recent crazy Bitcoin went through a roller coaster-like rise and fall in just 24 hours after it exceeded $69,000 per coin. Due to the outflow of capital profits and massive selling on cryptocurrency exchanges, Bitcoin fell sharply, falling below $60,000 and plummeting more than 10%.
As of press time, the price of Bitcoin is hovering around $63,500. According to coinglass statistics, nearly 320,000 people around the world have been liquidated.
According to the Securities Times, Bitcoin will usher in a new round of “halving” in April, which will become an important incentive to accelerate the rise of Bitcoin. A "halving" is the halving of mining rewards, which occurs approximately every four years, depending on the Bitcoin network's block generation rate. This will reduce the supply of Bitcoin, expected on April 23, 2024, when the block reward will drop from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.
This situation has historically been positive for Bitcoin prices, with traders rushing into the Bitcoin market ahead of April's "halving" event in anticipation of reduced supply, hoping to profit when supply decreases and prices rise. However, the issuance of the Bitcoin ETF in January this year was the key factor that triggered the market outbreak. Previously, on January 11, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officially approved 11 Bitcoin spot ETF applications, including BlackRock and other institutions.
This decision will allow ordinary investors to buy and sell Bitcoin as easily as stocks and mutual funds. Prior to this, investors in the cryptocurrency market were mainly "stragglers", and the entry of these asset management giants announced that the "regular army" is accelerating to enter the market, bringing more incremental funds.
The new measures lower the threshold for buying Bitcoin and attract more institutional and retail investors to enter the market. In addition, the approval of listing also enhances the legitimacy of crypto assets, thereby boosting the price of Bitcoin gradually higher.
This sudden rise and fall has made many people lament that they "missed the opportunity to get rich." Bitcoin's rollercoaster-like ups and downs, while the outside world is discussing "whether the bull market will come again", senior Bitcoin players appear to be "calm and calm". In their view, every round of Bitcoin's rise and fall is... is the normal state.
If Bitcoin speculation is compared to a war, they claim to be generals who do not care about the gains and losses of smaller cities. They only look at the overall market situation, do not trade easily, and operate in the long term. These are their three major principles for playing currency.
They firmly believe that "this is something valuable" and adhere to some kind of religious belief. After experiencing ups and downs for several years, they still talked about their so-called belief in Bitcoin. "People who play Bitcoin are very religious. They don't believe in anyone except Bitcoin." A senior player said.
The following is an observation by "Business Show" in 2020 "Bitcoin Madness 2020: A Brewing "Tulip Bubble"". Comparing the price trend two years ago and the observation feedback of practitioners, Bitcoin is still “crazy” today. In every Bitcoin “carnival”, the absent people may be entering the market. Those who have already entered the game may be infinitely looking forward to the arrival of the next high point.
In early April 2020, blockchain media practitioner Liu Jun left the company where he had stayed for 7 years.
On the 12th of the month before his departure, the price of Bitcoin plummeted 40% from US$7,000 to below US$4,000, hitting a new low since 2019.
After this sudden plunge, upstream and downstream companies related to Bitcoin were in trouble, and some quantitative trading companies suffered large losses. Since the mining costs of mines were much higher than the currency price, the plunge led to the shutdown of miners.
The boss had no choice but to transform, and the employees were forced to leave. Most participants like Liu Jun were trapped in their Bitcoins and left the market sadly.
In recent years, with the sharp rise and fall of Bitcoin, the domestic regulatory attitude towards Bitcoin has become stricter. First, all digital currency trading platforms were closed and Bitcoin spot transactions were not allowed.
From upstream to downstream, the story of departure is repeated in cycles. And those who stay, and those who are new to the bus, are eagerly waiting for Bitcoin to return to its high of $20,000.
In the early morning of December 17, the price of Bitcoin exceeded the US$23,000 mark. This was the first time since 2017 that it exceeded US$20,000, an increase of more than 450% from the lowest price of US$4,000 in March.
Against the background of the carnival that fills the screen, the currency circle in the cold winter suddenly feels full of spring.
In October this year, Shi Wei, who was new to the cryptocurrency industry, was so excited that he couldn't contain his excitement. "Ah, it's already crazy, so it's possible for it to rise to US$1 million." He added, "We don't have many opportunities to make a fortune, so we have to hold on to it for a long time."
But fanatics always prefer speculation.
Just ten days ago, because Shi Wei needed money urgently to buy a house, he cashed out when the price was US$17,000. "It was a bit frustrating, after all, it was a big difference."
Three years ago, Bitcoin exceeded US$20,000, which was called an "epic bull market." A large number of retail investors in the domestic currency circle went crazy for this.
The surge three years later once again brought an epic carnival, and this time the protagonists were American institutional investors from across the ocean.
Affected by the epidemic in 2020, the world faced an unprecedented "water release", and the currency volume of important global economic centers such as the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of Japan increased.
American financial giants even held meetings overnight to study and find more perfect asset hedging solutions. Bitcoin, which experienced a "plummet" in March and a "halving" in May this year, is re-stimulating their interest.
Subsequently, the dominant force in the market has changed.
In the cyberpunk year of 2020, when everything is possible, domestic Bitcoin fans who once flocked to the scene in the first half of the year gradually left the market, and in the second half of the year, most retail investors were in a wait-and-see state; while on the other side of the ocean, the United States, which has been hit hard by the epidemic, A large number of traditional financial companies and well-known fund institutional investors are rolling up their sleeves and clamoring to enter the market.
Data from Bitcoin Treasurers shows that there are currently 16 listed companies buying Bitcoin, holding a total of 115,300 Bitcoins, and investing a total of US$1.4 billion.
Every round of sharp rises and falls will refresh the perceptions of people outside and inside the circle. This surge has once again convinced those who were skeptical about Bitcoin that "Bitcoin has a real 'price'"; and those who believed that "Bitcoin is a 'tulip bubble'" also began to think about themselves Is it wrong to start returning to the currency circle?
Since its birth, every round of Bitcoin’s ups and downs has seen speculators come in and out, and bubbles have always followed.
All financial bubbles are as fragile as their real-world names suggest. But no one knows when the bubble will burst.
Foam
In the mid-16th century, the tulip, which later became the national flower of the Netherlands, was introduced to Western Europe from Turkey.
For a time, the Dutch were crazy about tulips, and the prices of rare varieties were raised.
At that time, there was a big competition in the circle of friends among the rich. They were not only satisfied with showing off antiques and admiring the smile of the Mona Lisa. "Who has the latest variety of tulips?" was popular throughout the windmill country.
Later, it triggered a speculative craze among merchants on tulips. By the 17th century, the price of many tulip items had been outrageously inflated, even more than the price of a cow, and prices skyrocketed.
Businessmen from all over the world rushed to the Netherlands. In addition to paying for the tulips, they also had to pay additional expenses including carriages. The price of a tulip is much higher than the price of a carriage.
Some people realized that tulip trading itself did not create wealth, but transferred wealth, so everyone began to sell or even short-sell.
One buy and one sell, the speculative mania before and after was the same, and finally the bubble burst. The "Tulip Bubble" became the first recorded financial bubble in human history.
History is always similar. The fragrant Bitcoin is currently inspiring more and more people’s interest.
Since its birth, the mystery and rarity of Bitcoin have attracted many people. In the past few years, many investment institutions on Wall Street and companies in the mobile payment field have gone from not accepting to accepting, from not recognizing to recognizing.
