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Bitcoin news in mainstream media usually focuses on two different themes. The first is its death and the second is bubble formations. We also often see news about the environmental damage caused by miners towards the end of bear markets and during rising periods. So, how many times has BTC died in 13 years?
Has Bitcoin Died?
Despite 474 death reports in 10 years, Bitcoin still sees daily volumes worth billions of dollars. According to the platform 99Bitcoins, Bitcoin (BTC) has died 474 times since 2010. This, of course, includes reports in mainstream media. The periods when news of its death intensifies are, as you know, during difficult bear markets.
After each declaration of death, the price of Bitcoin has managed to recover from massive losses and reach new peaks. In November 2023, the well-known Indian author Chetan Bhagat wrote an opinion piece declaring the death of crypto. During the same period, especially altcoins experienced significant declines, but BTC and the crypto markets, in general, are not dead.
Will Bitcoin Die?
You could say that Bitcoin is dead if one day very few people make transfers on the Bitcoin network, exchanges close due to lack of interest, and you can’t find anyone to trade BTC with. However, looking at it today, that doesn’t seem very plausible since it would require all crypto investors to lose internet access, coinciding with the last miner turning off their device and a complete lack of buyers.
But cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, will continually attract interest because they thrive on the concept of untouchable property rights. A world where no one can seize the money in your wallet is possible only with a currency that is secured cryptographically. Your bank funds can be seized, your under-the-mattress savings can be stolen or officially confiscated, but your wallet, whose private key you’ve memorized, can only be compromised if someone were to extract your teeth.
Moreover, even governments are sure that cryptocurrencies are here to stay and are working to regulate them. Trillion-dollar asset managers are striving for ETF approval, and demand is expected to skyrocket.
Therefore, even though weakening demand in bear markets may spawn news of Bitcoin’s death, the king of cryptocurrencies is expected to survive. Markus Thielen, head of research at Matrixport, also believes that a bear market or any other crisis does not pose a real threat to the cryptocurrency market, especially Bitcoin.
Let’s make a side note that altcoins can die, and many have over the years. A significant portion of the cryptocurrencies that exist today will be forgotten years later, just as those in the top 50 during 2017 or earlier periods have died. Only Bitcoin and the strong will survive.
