“Bitcoin is the apex property of the Human Race” – Michael Saylor

The crypto market is on an indefinite journey of making groundbreaking strides along with a riveting craze over NFTs that are currently circling the industry. The boom in the NFT market is evident with influential figures such as Jack Dorsey selling his tweet as an NFT, highlighting the visionary advance in the DeFi industry itself. While several skeptics were pondering over the potential change of the event following the parabolic surge in the market, the elevating interest of institutional investors says otherwise. 

Projecting the fear that did conquer the wildest nightmare of every crypto trader back in 2017 with a correction that shook the market at the time, it may be fair to respect the skepticism, however, the doubt itself is not justified. Many participants fail to see the elephant in the room of massive awareness and worldwide crypto adoption that currently justifies the huge difference between the market conditions of 2021 from that of 2017. Adding to the blatant change of scenarios between the current bullish market and the FOMO of 2017 is the institutional giants, headlining bitcoin in a positive light. 

2017 Bitcoin Bull Run in a Bubble – ICO Craze  

There is no denying that before 2017 pulled bitcoin to its first and wildly unexpected surge, the asset itself didn’t hold many ties to mainstream coverage. The asset being the first of its kind in the crypto market raised more than just doubts but fell victim to a blatant disregard for the mind-blowing consensus mechanism that runs the Bitcoin network or how it will become every trader’s dream asset. However, none of the benefitting factors and visionary potential of bitcoin drove the 2017 surge. 

ICO Craze – Crash and Burn

The mainstream public was more fascinated by the hype of countless ICOs back then and was typically using Bitcoin as a starting point to get into other crypto assets. The motive was driving with the hope of becoming filthy rich by pouring funds into altcoins. So while fiat was flowing into the BTC market, the charge lacked any relevant link to the asset’s actual potential in terms of a store of value to actually being considered as a hedge against inflation for traditional assets. 

With that fact being years into the future, regulations or security for crypto traders and investors was nowhere near in sight. Without knowing the consequences of their actions and there weren’t many in 2017, spinning a token out of thin air and getting it listed was a breeze. Oblivious to the delicacy of the situation, the mainstream hype got anyone from a daily wager to a tested investor pouring their hard-earned money into an unsure investment. And after that, things basically spiraled down into a dump with money lost over nowhere to be found projects.

While trade activity and heavy inflow of fiat into BTC was the center point of the last parabolic run in a FOMO-filled bubble gaining popularity for use cases of BTC among influential figures and institutional giants is the concrete ground of the current bull in the rocketing price of bitcoin. 

2020 – Beginning of Global Awareness and Adoption

As Bitcoin was slowly simmering towards the pandemic year with the scheduled 3rd BTC halving in May 2020 was already expected to see an inclination towards the crypto as the traditional market came down crashing. While BTC did see a strong stride upwards during the halving after touching a low of $5K, the real bull run didn’t kick until November where it finally managed to break its all-time high in December and the rest was history. 

Bringing the vision of crypto assets actually transforming into being used in regular transactions and becoming accessible to more than just investors and retailers, PayPal made an unprecedented stance of accepting cryptocurrencies for online payments and offering crypto services. The news was the first concrete reality in the history of cryptocurrencies with an actual spine that hinted towards mass adoption and an easy gateway for the public to access Bitcoin and other digital assets. Following an almost unhindered journey of breaking new highs every other day, names of leading giants in financial and technology sectors emerged with their tails attached to BTC. 

More Institutions than Retailers

Reflecting directly on the concrete ground of the rally that sent BTC making its mark over $60k is the strong wave of the positive notion by institutional giants like JPMorgan Chase, MicroStrategy, Grayscale, Fidelity, and countless others. The support of the influential figures including Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, hedge fund manager Paul Tudor, and banking giants pouring Billions of dollars into BTC is probably the thickest branch of the crypto tree that lacked in 2017. 

While several public figures in finance sectors came out expressing their positive outlook on bitcoin quite publicly, the dominance in the BTC market of the institutions like MicroStrategy with their bitcoin treasure piling high with more than 90,000 bitcoins sent a shock throughout the community. The very fact that banking and investment giants like Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, Third Point, etc. all venturing into cryptocurrencies is the justifying factor behind the statement that Bitcoin is now too big to ignore or overlook.   

Along with the mind-boggling investment of $1.5 billion by Tesla, JPMorgan sent a wind rushing across the community when their analysts suggested their long list of investors to allocate 1% of their portfolio in Bitcoin as a hedge against traditional assets. Being one of the leading banking and investment giants, a small note from JPMorgan is one of the most significant promotions for cryptocurrencies the market has ever seen. 

A Shift – From Bitcoin Trading to Accumulating

Along with on-chain data and exchange flows evidently reflecting the change in behavior of consumers to holding BTC over trading, public figures like Michael Saylor have openly admitted perceiving Bitcoin as an asset they seek for survival and as the apex property of the human race in his interview with BitBoy. The co-founder of MicroStrategy also stated quite clearly that they want more bitcoin with no intentions of selling it any time soon and mentioning that the only means for survival is to get that asset rich. 

Moreover, the shifting notion towards BTC as a store of value is a direct reflection of the collapsing value of the currency. While it’s no longer a shocker that the currency is on an inevitable journey to inflation given the massive amount of printing done by central banks, people are hedging the fiat inflation by investing in Bitcoin like other relevant hedges including gold and real estate. Given the evolutionary journey of Bitcoin, it doesn’t come as a surprise anymore for this digital asset to have become one of the strongest reserves against inflation. 

Regulatory Improvements and Infrastructure Growth

In all truth and factual honesty, 2017 didn’t exactly hold the right situations and considerable advance in terms of operations and security for anyone or any company to buy millions worth of BTC. If something like that had happened, storing that much BTC securely would have been a nightmare and extremely difficult to keep away from the eyes of other active participants. 

However, situations have changed for the better now. There have been remarkable advances in bitcoin custody solutions by companies like Coinbase, Fidelity, Gemini, etc. along with liquidity providers and OTC desks that are shaping the execution services in reflection to the traditional markets. It is quite a notable fact that the topic of cryptocurrencies wasn’t the most positively talked about by officials and has even received an elongated mode of silence by many. 

However, the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin has gone through a transformational change in opinion across the globe by governing and political bodies of countries that once sought cryptocurrencies to be nothing but a tool that belongs in the dark and illegal markets. 

With countries like the U.S., India, Nigeria, and many more coming on board with the potential of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have certainly contributed to the current BTC surge.

It’s an inevitable fact that it is a consumer’s note on an asset that defines its worth along with its own individual aspects. With time, Bitcoin has turned tables and has established itself as a true alternative to gold instead of just being a collective or something to trade in the hope of making a quick profit. The shift in scenario comes in hand with the heavy presence of institutional investors and recognition by the governing bodies worldwide that has led Bitcoin into a narrative shift from trading to long-term investing.