It was almost exactly a year ago when bitcoin investors painted the future in the rosiest tones: the digital currency was supposed to replace the dollar, depreciate central banks, and bring their heyday flying to young Techgeek’s eternal wealth, as it were by the way. For the tenth anniversary of the cryptocurrency is now a disastrous picture: Hardly any of the promises has come true.
While the price of the cryptocurrency once staggered from $ 20,000 to $ 4,000, the crypto scene is committing collective self-deception. She always finds some excuse for Bitcoin’s ill-health: Once an American star-bearer barked at Bitcoin, causing panic. Recently, it was said, the fight of two sizes in the crypto business has unsettled investors. Sometimes supposedly lacking positive news to support the course. In other words, there is always something.
Lazy excuses of the enthusiasts
With such excuses, the Bitcoinenthusiasten lie themselves. For them can not be what can not be: As a currency, the currency is not useful, as a store of value for times of crisis much too shaky – and on top of that she has let millions of investor money go. Five points show how the Bitcoin community had to make promises for promises.
The bitcoin fertilizers made their impact no less promising than replacing the dollar, euro and yen as international currency. Whether car, coffee or office shelf, everything should be able to pay worldwide with Bitcoin. Soon, however, the public found out how creeping lame the network is. While the credit card operator Visa handles up to 65,000 transfers per second, Bitcoin is creating seven transactions. At best, it can be called tragic, how far claim and reality diverge.
Like a synchronous jumper with the stock market in the abyss
As such scams triggered uproar, Bitcoin fertilizers already had the next nice story ready: If you do not want to park your money in times of crisis in state currencies, then you should resort to Bitcoin. Enthusiasts praised the digital currency as digital gold. But what sounded like substance, safety and rarity did not last long.
In this year alone Bitcoin lost about 80 percent of its value. This is not an indicator of stability, let alone reassurance for times of crisis. On the contrary, when it rattled on the world’s stock exchanges in October, Bitcoin crashed like a synchronous jumper with the abyss. In recent weeks, the curves of the US stock index Dow Jones and Bitcoin showed a striking synchrony. Dangerous for investors who want to decouple with Bitcoin from the course of the stock markets.
No hope for rescue by the US Securities and Exchange Commission
Finally, the ideological hopes of Bitcoinenthusiasten are shattered. No state, no central bank, no bank, no credit card company should have the shots in the Bitcoin system. The sound of the followers indicated anarchy, equality and justice. But on closer inspection Bitcoin turns out to be a power machine for a few: 97 percent of all Bitcoin units are in the hands of only four percent of users. Again and again, rumors are circulating that rich bitcoin magnates have shoveled so many Bitcoin into their digital safes that they could manipulate the price of the currency with targeted purchases and sales.
As a last straw, the Bitcoinjünger now cling to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It could allow special financial vehicles that can direct the play money billions of large investors into the networks of digital currency. But that was recently described by the agency as „highly unlikely“.
The Bitcoin scene should put an end to the collective self-deception. Yes, maybe one or the other crypto-currency will survive if it brings benefits in everyday life. Bitcoin, however, should fare like one of the first Internet browsers. Everyone uses the Internet today, but with Netscape nobody has been surfing for a long time.sueddeutsche.de
