“Bitcoin is a tool for freeing humanity from oligarchs and tyrants, dressed up as a get-rich-quick scheme.” –Naval Ravikant, former CEO of AngelList
From Hope to HODL
Coming to the end of 2024, the crypto community was moving full speed ahead into the anticipated bull run. Values were up, hype was up, hope was up. We saw ATHs in Solana, Bitcoin and a variety of other players. XRP HODLers finally saw the light when it neared previous ATHs. New projects were entering the game in a strong way, and shitcoin trading definitely made headlines multiple times. Everyone was riding on the “Trump Effect” and hoping for a moon bound candle come January 20th at the inauguration and beyond.
Now here we are, almost 3/4 through February. Sinking exchange rates, Bitcoin remaining flat, more & more shitcoin and memecoin scandals, economic shakedown and uncertainty facing the world. What’s going on? Where is the massive pump we were all waiting for? It’s almost as though we received the opposite of what we wanted. What the heck happened?! What’s up with crypto?
The Breakdown
A plethora of external factors affect exchange rates. We’re witnessing trade wars. Economic and political shakedowns in the US that have international effect. Uncertainty reigns as we move forward into this disrupted market space as talks and movements are made to implement more and more change. Things are happening quickly. Too quickly for many to even process. These world affairs will undeniably have some influence on where the graphs go. Let’s take the rest of the writing here to focus on crypto though. There’s a few things that need to be highlighted to see what’s really going on with crypto.
There are two major headlines in the sphere that are popping up far more often than any other topic. We have 1.) Institutional Adoption and 2.)Shitcoin Rug Pulls. I’m sure that you’ve at least heard something about the rampant pump and dump fests going on week after week- especially the latest with President Milei of Argentina and $LIBRA. Adoption makes news but it seems that’s not so hot of an issue compared to the former. Even with Blackrock, States and Foreign governments stacking more and more SATs. The fact that this is what the market is facing right now speaks volumes about what is to come for the industry and the issue that lurks in the background: regulation.
Fact and FUD
There’s FUD and fact influencing the market and we all know that facts always win. The FUD questions the reliability of an industry that allows for shitcoin scams to happen all day everyday without any real backlash unless it’s carried out by someone of influence. This causes a wave of worry amongst investors who have experienced FTX and Terra-Luna type events. Who’s to say even the most reliable chains wont pull the rug? Concerns I’ve heard and understandably so- valid points.
The fact remains, however, that anything with real utility, real value, real solutions is being recognized. By businesses, by governments and by investors alike. The jump for Bitcoin from $70,000 to $108,000 followed months later by XRP from $0.60 to $3.30 sparked interest levels in crypto comparable to that of the NFT boom where the entire industry exploded with hype and trading volume. When you combine the causes of price jumps for these two scenarios, it covers the crypto space and its utility as a whole. Tokenization and Smart Contract technology was displayed, though not as fully as possible, in the NFT boom. Now we’re seeing the shift of value and financial technology come alive in the growing adoption of LINK XRP, SOL and Bitcoin, among many others with the technology they offer.
Looking Ahead
Regulation and Tokenization is the name of the game moving forward. With the level of FUD that the shitcoin markets cause, it’s catching heavy attention, especially from regulators. Combine that with the fact that institutions and governments are jumping on the train one after the other and combining this new world with traditional finance. What do you get? A speeding up of the process to fully implement the system. Regulatory framework is hard enough and it’s taken forever to get anywhere thus far. But it’s been happening nonetheless, more and more, faster and faster, clearer and clearer. It now seems that everyone knows that this movement isn’t going anywhere. The facts and the FUD are catalyzing the process of making crypto investing more safe and trustworthy, and with that, it’s going to be an avalanche of change where it becomes more normalized and accepted in daily life.
Once the monetary systems are flipped upside down and fully brought onto the blockchain landscape, we’re going to see NFTs take on their fully evolved form. They’re so much more than a tokenized JPG. Just like Bitcoin is so much more than magic internet money. Crypto is more than we have ever experienced in the world of finance. It brings it all together. Looking ahead, we have a long way to go, but we’re now on the cusp of an economic overhaul. That’s what’s up with crypto.
None of this is Financial Advice, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH (DYOR) and stay safe!
