Athletes with laser eyes in support of Bitcoin on Twitter, Rap stars holding private meta verse parties, NBA players seeking NFT advice on Twitter and crypto companies becoming key sponsors for leading sports teams!
What the hell happened in the last few years?
From the disliked mysterious kid in the playground to now the coolest kid on the block who everyone wants to be friends with, the crypto world has undergone a massive transformation — when it comes to its brand anyway.
Not so long ago, you were laughed at if you spoke about investing in Bitcoin but in 2021 you’re treated like some kind of divine being who is intelligent beyond comparison.
So, how have we got here?
Well, a lot of reasons, NFT’s, FOMO, tech billionaires and fluffy dogs have all played their part but I personally believe that the biggest driver was the pandemic (which we’re still not out of FYI).
You see, nothing makes you re-evaluate life and the way you operate in it than when you’re staring down the barrel of your own mortality on a global scale from an unknown threat.
And this is exactly what happened to all of us at the same time.
It might seem distant now but there was a connected experience where we were all in unison of the thought “We could be fucked here, this might be it!”. Mass viral pandemics with no cure in sight have a way of doing that to you.
And of course, like any good crisis — shit got crazy.
Yes, people did that dumb shit of fighting over toilet roll and hand sanitizer (they need to cover that in future history classes to highlight the stupidity of our species at this time) but there were far more larger macro events happening.
Like with the stock market. Which does what it does best in any crisis — it tanks. People freaked out and thought the best way to survive this unknown viral threat was to sell off stocks to combat what was to come.
Understandable.
At this time of complete instability and fear, of course, people were seeking something they thought might bring them some form of stability (or perhaps even an escape!).
Enter cryptocurrencies.
Now the words stability and crypto are not words that actually go together at all, ever! The market is extremely volatile.
You can be a millionaire today and a penniless fool tomorrow. That’s an extreme set of emotions to have to navigate. Yet, when you think the world might be ending, is anything actually risky anymore? One tends to think not.
Back in March 2020, when all the real crazy stuff started to kick off, the humble top 2 cryptocurrencies in Bitcoin and Ethereum were valued at $6,483 and $133.76 each.
The funny thing is that a lot of traditional finance people thought these assets were way overvalued at that time. It would be fascinating to know what they think today as BTC sits between the $40-$50k valuation and Eth at $2500 — $3k.
Since this point, the world of crypto has literally blown up and the everyday human has started to take notice. With less than favourable interest rates from traditional finance products and plenty of free time on our hands from lockdowns every other month, people were starting to take an interest in this crypto thing.
Coincide this with the explosion of De-Fi (decentralised finance for the uninitiated) and what seems to be the unstoppable rise of digital assets in the form of NFT’s, and you have the perfect recipe for stardom. Plus, when there’s money to be made, everyone and their mother doesn’t want to miss out.
So, as I read more and more headlines about cryptocurrencies being adopted as legal tender of countries and organisations, along with the rampant mass societal interest. I believe the question is no longer “when will it go mainstream”, because that seems to have been and gone.
The more interesting questions are “How did it become so popular in less than 2 years? And, how long till it grows its empire?”.
More from me
Fractionalised NFT’s explained: Can’t afford a whole NFT? Just buy one part instead
The Matrix Influenced Everything About Blockchain, Crypto, De-Fi And NFT’s
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Important 🚨
I’m not a financial advisor, a psychologist or any from of accredited professional. As such, this is not financial advice and I’m not qualified or licensed to provide anything like this. This content is a bunch of thoughts from a fellow human for educational purposes only — that is all.