I Wrote About Bitcoin and No One Cared. Now It’s Hit $30,000.
It’s probably still a bubble, but that doesn’t mean I’m not mad.
The first time I wrote about Bitcoin (BTC) was in July 2017.
I was three months into my summer internship at an advertising company, working as a writer covering finance and technology. In many ways, I was in over my head. I had only just turned 21, and it was the first time someone was paying me to write.
Back then, the bulls predicted the Bitcoin price would hit $5,000 in 2018. Which was a big deal. Today, in 2021, the BTC price is sitting at a little over $30,000.
Jump forward a few months — and one Richard Branson endorsement — the digital currency moved past the $11,000 mark in December 2017. I remember the buzz in the office: this milestone came after BTC dropped 20% a week prior, and one month after economist Joseph Stiglitz, a Noble Prize winner, declared that we should ban Bitcoin. Stiglitz cited its lack of a “socially useful function.”
And that, my friends, was the crypto world for a few years.
Every morning I would log onto my computer and check the prices on CoinDesk. Some days the market was a sea of red, other days it wasn’t. I would then watch with my coffee as the bulls and the bears fought on Twitter about whether Bitcoin was another Dutch Tulip Bulb Market Bubble.
If anything, it was a bit of entertainment in an otherwise confusing, male-dominated industry.
Bitcoin’s price would fall and increase, and then fall and increase some more. Government officials would call for more regulation — and then get nowhere. Crypto scams were becoming more prominent around the world, too. Individuals were losing money, getting duped. And in May 2018, these scams and stunts turned fatal.
As a result of a bizarre advertising campaign, a 45-year-old Sherpa lost his life on Mount Everest. His death occurred after crypto enthusiasts climbed the mountain in the Himalayas, with the intention of burying a digital wallet hard drive full of tokens at the Summit.
Meanwhile, celebrities like Katy Perry promoted cryptocurrencies on Instagram to millions, while the Winklevoss Twins remained steadfast that Bitcoin was the future. They still hold this position.
Drop, increase. Increase, drop.
Towards the end of my cryptocurrency career — cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic — Bitcoin saw a 30% price correction in August 2019. The digital asset had surged for two weeks, establishing an M-top at $13,177 and $13,739 before falling to $9,600.
But Bitcoin bulls were still optimistic: many believed the virtual currency would top $20,000 in the coming years. Crypto miners and their pre-halving excitement fueled this mindset.
I won’t lie to you: during the pandemic, I forgot about Bitcoin. You know, there were other things to worry about. And then the headlines slapped me in the face.
While Bitcoin started 2020 at $7,200, it shot up almost 300%, ending the year at a whopping $30,000. In one year the narrative shifted and people who never talked about cryptocurrencies all of a sudden couldn’t shut up about them.
You know when you discover a new artist on Spotify, and they feel like your secret, and then little by little, the world starts to find them as well? You feel a sense of pride before realizing no one will believe that you — yes, you — listened to them first. That’s how I felt in 2020 as I watched more and more people from my high school post about Bitcoin on Facebook.
But let me be clear: I have no intention of buying Bitcoin in 2021, and I don’t have regrets about not buying it four years ago. For all I know, Bitcoin’s bubble could still burst, leaving millions around the world silent. Or it might not.
All I’m saying is that it’s a strange feeling to be apart of something from the beginning, only to then see it develop and soar from the sidelines.
