Katharine Wooller, managing director UK and Eire, Dacxi
Bitcoin has now been in existence more than ten years, and has survived the doubters, the scammers, the hackers, and government attempts to quash it. To overstate this amazing “survive and thrive feat” as well as the innovation it represents would be difficult. Bitcoin has exceeded expectations, and the halving marks the line in the sand where bitcoin is considered a proven investment concept, and firmly in the mainstream.
Indeed, Google searches for ‘bitcoin halving’ hit an all-time high in the late April, suggesting firm interest from newbies. It is now perceived a proven technology, so it will be interesting to see how this translates to new retail investors entering the market.
In terms of prices, we didn’t see the sudden lurch of explosive growth postulated by some commentators, rather the slow steady climb of a reliable asset. It will be interesting to see if some of the volatility which has long put off amateur investors will level out. I personally was surprised to see a bear trap a few days before halving. It suggested both that the market is not, yet, big enough, to be immune to whales throwing their weight around, and that some of the pre-halving hysteria was premature.
Yet it does not feel that the halving has been a damp squib. For the industry as a whole, it is great news that bitcoin is now demonstrably “decoupled” from traditional markets. It is apparent that the price of Bitcoin is outside the traditional assets’ ecosystem, and the market is determined by a new set of criteria. Bitcoin now has the crucial “social proof” that it cannot be altered by external forces, no matter how powerful, bringing much joy to the libertarians and professional investors alike.
Indeed, leviathan investors, such as Paul Tudor Jones, coming out in praise of bitcoin, as a viable hedge against inflation, has provided much-needed credibility. Bitcoin is viewed as what gold was in the 1970s, thus driving increasing interest from his fellow baby boomer cohort. Indeed, Dacxi saw some of its busiest weeks in the run-up to halving. The addition of global pandemic and imminent worldwide recession has been the perfect storm for the world to crave safe new assets.
In my opinion, crypto has reached critical mass in terms of mainstream adoption. There’s no going back. I was delighted to wake up in London on the 12th May and see the BBC reporting on halving. Time for some halving parties once we are all out of lockdown!
