At around 10:30 am on December 5, 2024, BTC broke through the $100,000 mark and officially entered the six-digit range. Its market value also exceeded $2 trillion. At this time, 15 years have passed since the birth of BTC.
In 15 years, BTC has grown from 0 to a market value of 2 trillion US dollars, comparable to Google and far exceeding silver. BTC, along with the entire cryptocurrency market, has also grown from a newborn baby to a mature, energetic teenager with infinite possibilities, and is welcoming the next fifteen years with a new mentality and state.
From $0.0008 to $100,000, BTC has increased more than 125 million times in the past fifteen years. Perhaps we can also look forward to what kind of achievements BTC will achieve in the next fifteen years.
At the same time, with Trump appointing Paul Atkins as the new SEC chairman, he is ready to sweep away the chronic problems of Gary Gensler's tenure as SEC chairman. This will also bring new gameplay and new ideas to the industry. The future of BTC and cryptocurrency is promising.
BTC in the past 15 years
Let's go back 15 years. In November 2008, a paper named "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" signed by Satoshi Nakamoto was published on the Internet. This paper systematically explained how to build an electronic transaction system that does not rely on third-party trust through a peer-to-peer network, bringing a subversive concept to the global financial field.
At that time, the world was experiencing an unprecedented financial crisis. The crisis started in the United States, marked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which triggered a chain reaction that not only shook the U.S. financial system, but also affected the global economy. In order to save the economy on the verge of collapse, the U.S. government implemented unprecedented intervention policies, including injecting huge amounts of public funds into financial institutions and implementing quantitative easing policies. Although these measures stabilized the market in the short term, they also laid hidden dangers: excessive money supply, increased inflation risks, increased volatility in financial markets, and even led to people's distrust of the traditional financial system.
It was in this context that Satoshi Nakamoto came up with the idea of designing a new monetary system. He hoped to use technology to build a decentralized payment system that no longer relies on the government and financial institutions. In the traditional financial system, the right to issue currency is monopolized by the central bank, and transactions are recorded and processed by financial institutions such as commercial banks. Although this model has been running for many years, it inevitably exposes the problems brought about by centralization, such as over-reliance on monetary policy, corruption of financial institutions, and lack of transaction privacy.
The core concept of Bitcoin is to break this traditional model. Satoshi Nakamoto proposed the concept of blockchain technology, which is a distributed ledger technology that verifies and records transactions through the consensus mechanism of all network nodes. With the help of blockchain, Bitcoin realizes decentralized transactions, and users can complete payments directly through the peer-to-peer network without relying on any intermediary institutions. This not only improves transaction efficiency, but also reduces costs and provides higher protection for transaction privacy.
Just two months after the paper was published, on January 3, 2009, Nakamoto mined the Genesis Block of Bitcoin on a small server in Helsinki, Finland. As a reward, he received the first 50 Bitcoins. The timestamp of the Genesis Block also contains a symbolic text: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks". This text not only records the historical background of the birth of Bitcoin, but also highlights its symbolic significance as a reflection on the traditional financial system.
From the moment the Genesis Block was born, Bitcoin officially took its first historic step. Although only a handful of technology geeks and cryptography enthusiasts participated in it at first, the potential of this emerging thing has gradually been recognized by more and more people. Bitcoin is not only a digital currency, but also a technological revolution. With decentralization and transparency at its core, it has opened up new possibilities for payment methods, value storage, and financial innovation.
Over time, Bitcoin and the blockchain technology behind it have continued to develop, attracting the attention of countless developers, investors, and businesses. Today, Bitcoin has become a global asset that not only plays an important role in the financial field, but also triggers profound discussions on technological ethics and economic systems. It has also risen from $0.0008 to $100,000.
How BTC broke through
At 4 a.m. on January 11, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, including BlackRock IBIT. This move has caused a huge stir in the global financial market. As of November 21, 2024, in just 10 months, Bitcoin ETFs have attracted more than $100 billion in inflows, an amount close to 82% of the size of U.S. gold ETFs. This change means that Bitcoin is no longer just a high-risk speculative product dominated by scattered retail investors, but has gradually become an important asset for global institutional investors.
With the infusion of these funds, the market structure of Bitcoin has undergone a fundamental change. Wall Street financial giants, global listed companies and even sovereign wealth funds of many countries are participating in the battle to buy Bitcoin. The rise of institutional investment has made Bitcoin not only a "private domain" for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, but also an asset class that cannot be ignored in the traditional financial system.
Take MicroStrategy (MSTR) as an example. This company, which used to focus on enterprise software, has successfully transformed into the world's largest Bitcoin holder. As of December 5, 2024, MicroStrategy holds more than 402,100 Bitcoins, accounting for 1.5% of the world's total Bitcoin supply. To achieve this goal, MicroStrategy has spent a total of US$23.483 billion to purchase Bitcoin, with an average purchase price of US$58,402. Today, MicroStrategy's book profit has exceeded US$16.7 billion, making it one of the most influential Bitcoin "whales" in the world. At the same time, more than 60 public companies and thousands of private companies are quietly following MicroStrategy's example and joining the ranks of Bitcoin hoarding.
Behind this trend, the US policy shift played a crucial role. After Trump came to power, he quickly cleared a series of institutional obstacles in the development of cryptocurrencies, adopted a more relaxed cryptocurrency regulatory policy, and supported the plan to include Bitcoin as a strategic asset in government reserves. This policy relaxation has injected strong confidence into the market, driven more capital to flow into the Bitcoin market, and laid a solid foundation for the financialization and legalization of Bitcoin.
The globalization of Bitcoin is actually a complex drama interwoven with multiple factors. First, with the implementation of the interest rate cut cycle in the United States, the liquidity of the global capital market has greatly increased, and the attractiveness of Bitcoin as a non-traditional asset has become increasingly prominent. The participation of Wall Street giants such as BlackRock and Vanguard has injected a large amount of institutional funds into the Bitcoin market and provided it with higher market recognition. At the same time, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor has become an avid supporter of Bitcoin. By borrowing money to increase his Bitcoin holdings, he not only drove up the price of Bitcoin, but also led to a surge in the company's stock price, forming a "stock price-coin price" spiral effect, which has inspired more listed companies to follow suit.
More importantly, the Trump administration’s cryptocurrency policy shift provides institutional guarantees for this process. Trump not only publicly expressed his support for Bitcoin, but also proposed to make Bitcoin a strategic reserve asset for the United States. This historic decision further accelerated the “regularization” process of Bitcoin, turning it from an emerging speculative tool into a part of the global financial system.
The financialization of Bitcoin can be described as a carefully planned "top conspiracy". When Bitcoin ETFs were approved in the US market, Wall Street giants entered the market, and MicroStrategy and other companies swallowed Bitcoin like whales, the entire market was undergoing profound changes. Cryptocurrency is no longer just an investment product for a small circle, it is gradually becoming an important part of the global capital market, heralding a profound change in the future financial field.
Through this series of policy adjustments, market changes and corporate behaviors, the status of Bitcoin has undergone tremendous changes. In the future, it is likely to be not only an alternative asset class, but one of the core assets in the global economic system.
The impact of Paul Atkins' election
In addition to the above reasons, another important factor that contributed to BTC breaking through $100,000 was the confirmation of the new chairman of the SEC.
In the early morning of December 5, 2024, Trump announced on his social platform Truth Social that Paul Atkins will become the new chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This decision marks a major shift in U.S. financial regulatory policy and may have a profound impact on the future capital market. Paul Atkins, 66, is a financial regulatory expert with a deep background who has long been committed to promoting business freedom and reducing government intervention.
Atkins' political stance and regulatory philosophy are consistent with those of many conservative financial experts. He advocates for more market-oriented policies and advocates reducing the regulatory burden on companies. After the global financial crisis in 2008, he publicly opposed the Dodd-Frank Act, which strengthened the supervision of financial institutions and required high fines for companies suspected of violating securities laws. He believes that excessive financial regulation has suppressed innovation and business vitality, especially in the fields of digital currency and technology finance. This position makes him one of the representatives of market liberals.
Atkins' political influence was evident as early as after Trump was elected president in 2016. At that time, he played an important role in Trump's transition team, pushing the Trump administration to adopt a more relaxed financial regulatory policy and advocating the withdrawal of many regulatory regulations that affect the free operation of financial markets. This position was implemented after the Trump administration took office, and Trump also clearly expressed his support for reducing the regulatory burden on financial institutions.
According to the New York Times, Atkins' appointment may indicate that the SEC will adopt a more relaxed regulatory strategy, especially in the digital transformation of financial markets and the regulation of cryptocurrencies. Atkins has repeatedly stated that he supports solving financial regulatory issues through market-based means and emphasizes that the government should respect the free choices of companies and investors. His regulatory philosophy may bring more room for technological innovation and the development of capital markets, especially in the fields of cryptocurrency and fintech. With the popularity of digital asset investment tools such as Bitcoin ETFs, Atkins' policy orientation may accelerate the legalization of digital assets in mainstream financial markets.
In addition, under Atkins' leadership, the SEC may pay more attention to innovative assets and technologies in the financial market, reduce excessive intervention in traditional financial markets, and promote the rapid development of emerging financial products. His appointment is also seen as a kind of "unbanning" of the financial industry, especially in a series of financial innovations and digital assets that were originally strictly regulated. This shift will not only affect investor confidence, but may also change the competitive landscape of the entire financial industry.
Summarize
BTC has completed a 125 million-fold increase in 15 years, and has also brought a brand new industry to the world. This industry already has tens of millions of practitioners, hundreds of millions of users, and hundreds of subdivided tracks. More importantly, the crypto industry, which has completed the initial asset accumulation, is ushering in a new dawn. The combination with AI, RWA associated with real-world assets, and the same rights and wealth management of coins and shares coupled with traditional funds and crypto funds will develop further. With the large-scale adoption of encryption technology in reality, we will see more encrypted applications in the future. BTC breaking through 100,000 is just the beginning, just like a pure child walking towards a vibrant teenager, this is a brand new beginning.
