Bitcoin's 14th Birthday: What's Next for the BTC Price?
The Genesis of Bitcoin: High Returns, Hashrate and a Reminder to Practice Safe Storage
On January 3rd, 2009, the very first block of the Bitcoin blockchain, known as the "genesis block," was mined by Bitcoin's anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. This marked the beginning of the Bitcoin network that we know today.
Inside the genesis block was a message from Satoshi Nakamoto that read: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks." This message was a reference to an article in The Times newspaper about the financial crisis at the time and was included as a proof of the date of the block.
Bitcoin was born in the 2008 financial crisis. While it is not the exact definition of a hedge for inflation / recessions / depressions, there is an ongoing debate about its benefits as a store of value in times of economic uncertainty, as it is not directly tied to any jurisdiction and is not subject to the same regulations or policies as traditional financial assets.
Take Bitcoin in the COVID financial crash of March 2020 for example. It has been the highest returning assets since then, moving from $3,500 to almost $69,000 per BTC. Even today, Bitcoin is still 450% higher than its March 2020 low. On the other hand, most of the blue-chip stocks have completely erased their gains over the past 2 years and are back to pre-pandemic levels.
More on Bitcoin Mining & the Network:
Bitcoin miners in the U.S. turned off their machines over part of the holidays due to the winter storms that spread across USA and Canada. During that time, the hashrate decreased by about 40% from 21-24 December and returned to its normal level now. Part of the decision to curtailment their energy use was is proof that they are supporting the electric grid. On top of that, Since 2020 over 75% of Bitcoin mining takes place using renewable energy sources.
If anyone tells you Bitcoin is bad for the environment and power grid, they may have been brainwashed by the ESG’s or players looking to take Bitcoin down.
Year over year, despite what Bitcoin price movement up and down, the hashrate (mining difficulty and power) of Bitcoin continues to grow. 10 years ago the hashrate was approximately 1 TH/s (terahash per second). As of January 2023, the hashrate is around 275 EH/s (exahashes per second), which represents a continuing exponential increase and continues to strengthen the network.
The higher the hashrate, the more difficult it is for attackers to carry out successful 51% attacks on the network and the more secure the network becomes. It will continue to grow along with Bitcoin's growth, regardless of price fluctuations.
Why do we celebrate January 3rd with “Not your Keys, Not your Coins”?
Every year on January 3rd, on Bitcoin’s birthday, the community bands together to bring awareness to the fact that digital assets like Bitcoin were designed not to be held by 3rd parties, but to be held in self custody, so they can be used for peer-to-peer transactions. We need constant reminder about the importance of self-custody and secure storage of cryptocurrency.
Your coins are not safe on the exchange. They are not always safe in hot wallets or mobile/desktop apps connected to the internet. They may not all be safe in one place in cold storage if you haven’t stored your private keys correctly, or you’ve stored them in the cloud, on your phone, or somewhere where someone else might find them.
Here’s the story of Luke Dash Jr, a developer working directly on Bitcoin Core. (he knows A LOT about Bitcoin).
Somehow two days ago Luke’s hot wallet storage was compromised and he lost 200+ BTC. Some were wondering why he kept over 200 BTC (around $3.5 million) on a hot wallet. And why, as a Bitcoin Core Developer, he did not have greater security of his funds. He should know every trick as to how to safely store your Bitcoin.
Taking care of your crypto doesn't have to be scary! It's just about being mindful of where and how you store your funds and having some precautions in place to keep them safe. 'Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins' Day is a great reminder that Bitcoin is all about being in control of your own money, so make sure you're keeping your Bitcoin in a secure spot. It's not about being paranoid, it's about being smart.
Technical Analysis:
Seeing as it’s Bitcoins Birthday, Let’s focus on the chart!
$BTC:
On the 12 hour timeframe, Bitcoin held support of this bear flag and rose slightly since January 1st. However, it is sitting right on the lower support of this channel and one negative piece of market news could send it tumbling. The next level of support below is a 6% drop down to around $15,600.
$BTC.D Bitcoin Dominance:
Bitcoin Dominance is showing a potential turnaround to the downside, with a Sell Signal showing on the EngineeringRobo 12 Hours chart. With the slight recovery and rise in price from altcoins in the past week and bitcoin remaining fairly stable, Bitcoins dominance dropped slightly.
If this trend continues and BTC.D drops, there could be a mini altcoin season throughout Q1 2023.
More Crypto News:
It’s Bitcoins Birthday. If you haven’t read the original Bitcoin Whitepaper yet, it’s the perfect time to do so.
also:
Sam Bankman-Fried Denies Moving Alameda-Linked Funds: ‘None of These Are Me’ as blockchain explorer shows Alameda address selling off small amounts of its coins, including addresses known to be owned by Sam.
Italian Parliament Approves 26% Crypto-Gains Tax in 2023 Budget.
Sam Bankman-Fried Likely to Plead Not Guilty to Fraud Charges
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried asked a judge to keep confidential the identities of two people who will help secure his bail.
Binance users can now purchase crypto using Apple Pay & Google Pay.
HeraSoft beings time-stamping onto the Bitcoin Blockchain for a permanent record of enterprise events.
Turkey to use Blockchain-Based Digital Identity (D-ID) for Public Services
Final Fantasy Creators Square Enix confirms future focus on Blockchain Game
DeFi Protocol SushiSwap to ending lending product to focus on DEX
Gemini trading exchanged announced an info hack, exposing user email addresses.
More trouble in the markets ahead? In an open letter to DCG CEO Barry Silbert, Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, accused Silbert of "bad faith stall tactics" and claimed that Genesis Global Capital, a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, is intermingling funds between the two companies. Winklevoss also mentioned that Genesis is refusing to return the $900 million in customer funds that were lent by Gemini.
We recently spoke with Ferrum Network about the launch of their multichain swap and DEX protocol, and their path to mainnet. I’d highly consider watching our interview together: Watch it here.
That’s all that we have for this week. Happy Birthday Bitcoin I’m setting the intention to work hard to provide all the best Web3 info for my readers throughout all of 2023. The market couldn’t be worse than 2022! *crosses fingers*
Ashton Addison
CEO, Crypto Coin Show
P.S. Don’t be like Joey.
Good stuff!