Prepare For Number And Noise To Go Up
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The bitcoin price is up more than $3,000 (>7%) today, at the time of writing. The animal spirits are building in anticipation of the approval of the first spot bitcoin ETFs and everyone and their mother is refreshing their Twitter feeds to get the latest details on filings and fund fees in an attempt to guess who will be the front runner out of the gate.
A few things are undeniable:
- Bitcoin is a permissionless system and anyone who wants to participate can do so, even Wall Street.
- The ETF will be very bullish for the price of bitcoin.
- There will be a large number of people who prefer to get exposure to the ETFs over holding their own keys.
With all of that being said, it will be, in my opinion, extremely important to recognize that a ton of noise will be tagging along with the butt ton of money that Wall Street seems primed to funnel into bitcoin via their products. As many have been saying over the last couple of weeks, bitcoin is about to cross the chasm and be thrust into the mainstream in a way that it has not been throughout the first 15 years of its existence. Crossing the chasm will coincide with a new cohort of people who are new to bitcoin and are here to fix it.
They'll deride early bitcoiners as unsophisticated amateurs who didn't understand the asset that they were dealing with. They'll claim that they know what bitcoin needs and the proper ways in which to incorporate it into the world. And they'll completely misunderstand the beauty of a truly peer-to-peer distributed cash system built on an open source protocol that enables new ways of receiving, holding and sending money in the Digital Age.
Many early bitcoiners are going to be faced with the pull of complacency in the coming years. The lure of massive bag pumps is going to make it easier for some to concede ground in the fight for the separation of money and states/central banks. The appreciation of their net worth may cause pause when feeling the urge to push back against the over-encroachment of the government and supranational regulatory agencies. The fast talking suits may successfully bamboozle many into believing it isn't an imperative to leverage bitcoin's native properties, particularly self-verification, when interacting with counterparties. A willingness to concede sovereignty in the face of uncomfortable battles due to social pressure and threat of persecution via the state may materialize.
Try not to be one of those bitcoiners. Bitcoin's purpose is much higher than increasing the net worth of those who hold it (or hold exposure to it). Bitcoin is freedom money and the siren calls of wealth and convenience are on their way to undermine the mission. Don't get distracted. Our children will be free.
Don’t let the money distract you from the end goal: separation of money and trusted third parties.
— Marty Bent (@MartyBent) January 7, 2024
Final thought...
Day 1 of the 5 day fast is done and I'm feeling pretty good.
