Bitcoin, the bellwether cryptocurrency, has outperformed stocks of tech giants like Amazon, Google and Netflix over the past decade.
Even though Bitcoin (BTC) made its debut only 15 years ago, it has already successfully competed with the giants of the tech industry. This shows that since Bitcoin’s inception in 2009, despite its relative youth, it has had a significant impact on major players in the tech world and shown to be competitive in terms of return on investment.
As of the end of 2014, the price of Bitcoin was around $378. However, the recent poor performance of the digital asset market has also led to a decline in the price of Bitcoin. Nevertheless, according to CoinMarketCap, at the time of this article's publication, the price of Bitcoin is still as high as $63,125, although this is 14.6% lower than its all-time high reached in March.
Bitcoin ranks second among tech investments
Data from TradingView shows that in the past decade, graphics processing unit (GPU) maker Nvidia is the only tech giant to have outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) in terms of investment returns. During this decade, Nvidia's stock symbol NVDA achieved an astonishing cumulative return of 17,797%, while Bitcoin's cumulative return was 12,464%.
Semiconductor maker AMD ranked third in the stock return ranking, with its stock price rising 3,335% during this period. Following closely behind was Elon Musk-led electric car maker Tesla (TSLA), whose stock price rose 1,200% and ranked fourth. Jeff Bezos' e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) rounded out the top five with a 1,063% increase. In addition, several Silicon Valley tech giants performed well, including streaming service company Netflix (NFLX), technology giant Apple (AAPL), social media and technology giant Meta (formerly Facebook) and Internet technology and services company Google (GOOG).
What’s Next for BTC?
Last month, a major hard-coded on-chain update designed by Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, the so-called Bitcoin halving event, which involves reducing the mining reward for new blocks in the Bitcoin blockchain by 50%, put pressure on miners’ revenues. Bitcoin halving maintains scarcity by reducing token inflation, introducing new supply dynamics to the market.
Historically, after each Bitcoin halving event, the market tends to experience a period of calm, and prices may stagnate until they start to rise after a period of time. This phenomenon may be due to the market taking time to digest the supply changes brought about by the halving, as well as investors' reassessment of price trends.
However, for the current halving cycle, some speculators speculate that market trends may be different, and they expect that market dynamics may change in the short term after the halving. This speculation may be based on the analysis of market sentiment, macroeconomic factors, technological developments, and changes in the regulatory environment.
Nevertheless, an expert said in an interview with reporters that although prices may fluctuate in the short term, in the long run, the impact of Bitcoin halving on the market is more far-reaching and will exceed direct price changes. This may mean that although prices may be affected by various factors in the short term, in the long run, the halving event will enhance the scarcity of Bitcoin by reducing the supply of new Bitcoins, which may have a positive impact on the value and price of Bitcoin.
Peter M. Moricz, head of DCL.Link Partnerships, suggested that in view of the halving of Bitcoin mining rewards, BTC miners now need to adopt more energy-efficient mining methods and cover operating costs through hedging operations. The increase in mining costs, especially energy costs, requires miners to find more efficient mining technologies and strategies to maintain competitiveness and profitability.
Mining companies such as Stronghold Digital Mining are exploring various options to maintain business sustainability, which may include selling their businesses to maximize shareholder value. With mining rewards decreasing, mining companies need to consider how to optimize operations, reduce costs, or find new sources of funding to maintain their businesses.
Senior experts’ views
Moricz also mentioned the issue of mining centralization, which he believes is a bigger concern than revenue. With more corporate consolidation and possible mergers and acquisitions, government influence over mining operations could increase, which could pose a major risk to the future of the BTC ecosystem.
In terms of price trends, Moricz believes that despite the skepticism of some senior Wall Street figures, the rise in BTC prices is inevitable in the long run. He mentioned the impact of BTC ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) on price trends and the expected market reaction to BlackRock's BTC ETF application. Moricz emphasized that the scarcity of BTC is real because according to the design of Bitcoin, there are only 21 million BTC in total, which is an unchanging fact that is not affected by anyone's opinion.
Peter M. Moricz, partner director at DCL.Link, suggested that the expectation of a Bitcoin ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) has driven the price of Bitcoin up in advance, rather than after the Bitcoin halving. Although the price of Bitcoin has fluctuated after each halving in history, the price highs each time are lower than those four years ago. Bitcoin has risen for seven consecutive months since rumors that BlackRock may apply for a Bitcoin ETF emerged. As a certain ETF (IBIT) has raised record funds, the momentum of Bitcoin's price increase has weakened.
Moricz expects the market to go through a period of correction, including a certain degree of sideways trading, which will lay a healthy foundation for the next round of Bitcoin's rise. He emphasized that the scarcity of Bitcoin is real, and there are only 21 million Bitcoins in total, which is an unchangeable fact, no matter what others say. #比特币 #价格
