Not surprisingly, the latest newsletter by Bloomberg editor Joe Weisenthal sparked a vivid discussion in the Cryptoverse, with community members coming to defense in droves.
In the piece, Weisenthal outlined six reasons for what he sees at bitcoin’s lackluster performance this year:
- The argument that economic crises are good for BTC has been taken away by recent market action.
- Bitcoin has proved not to be a good portfolio diversifier given its increasing correlation with the stock market.
- Bitcoin has performed “roughly in line” with , undermining the argument that bitcoin has “distinct ‘digital gold’ characteristics.”
- The Bitcoin halving has not resulted in a move higher, but instead “went without much impact.”
- The “extraordinary balance sheet expansion” by the Fed hasn’t led to the kind of currency collapse or inflation that many Bitcoiners have predicted.
- Young people are again “discovering the stock market” through platforms like Robinhood, meaning more competition for investment money.
Despite all of these alleged headwinds for the top cryptocurrency, however, Weisenthal admitted that the current crisis may still be good for BTC “if in its wake we get infringements on privacy” that would create demand for payment methods that can’t be censored.
“But in the meantime, all that’s happened is that a bunch of popular Bitcoin narratives have been debunked,” the editor concluded his piece by saying.
Among the Bitcoin defenders is Ryan Selkis, CEO of crypto research firm Messari, who came out with his own take on the controversial opinions voiced by the Bloomberg editor, calling it “mostly a garbage take” in a newsletter and twitter thread published the same day.
1) Most of us never thought BTC would be a liquidity crisis hedge, but rather a hedge for currency failures. We've written extensively about this, with @robustus writing the decisive thread about it.https://t.co/7aknstrMS2
— Ryan Selkis (@twobitidiot) June 15, 2020
Selkis took issue with all of Weisenthal’s arguments presented in the newsletter, except the last one about young investors now getting into stocks, which he said “could be a sign that the ‘unwashed masses’ are sick of crypto.”
On this point, however, he also noted that as soon as the big institutions act as a “spark” for the next crypto rally, the crowd of potential retail investors that will jump onboard will be ten times larger thanks to Robinhood, acting as a “gateway drug” to investing.
On the other points, Selkis also countered most of Weisenthal’s arguments by explaining that bitcoin was never a “liquidity crisis hedge,” that ethereum has always followed bitcoin’s price, that it is expected that a new all-time high will not follow immediately after a halving, and that “literally every asset has moved in lockstep” with news surrounding COVID-19.
“We better HOPE institutions are coming, and that's why Joe's garbage take matters,” the crypto CEO further said, while adding “Time will tell. I've already placed my bet.”
Currently (8:34 UTC), BTC is trading at USD 9,478. It appreciated by almost 4% in the last 24 hours and by 2% in the past week.
Other reactions:
Do you have a personal financial interest in Ethereum?
— Robert Farkas?? (@Robert__Farkas) June 15, 2020
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Total garbage.
BTC has performed amazingly well considering whats been going on.
— AwyeeBitcoin (@AwyeeDeaterBob) June 15, 2020
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1 - Zoom Out
2 - Still shaking out weak hands
4 - halving takes 12-18 months to raise price
5 - People are saving their helicopter money. Inflation comes once they start spending it.
6 - BTC dosent need traders. True hodlers dont touch STONKS
— Rob Hodl (@RobHodl) June 15, 2020
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Keep it in context, he works for Bloomberg and by default the establishment, the deep state, the banks and the Wallstreet scumbags that got us here in the first. He constantly attacks Bitcoin, why? He has a personal interest in seeing it fail. He is a boot licker and a lap dog
— BitcoinGoGo (@Hodl_GoGo) June 15, 2020
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6 REASONS IT'S BEEN A GOOD YEAR FOR BITCOIN.
— Matt Odell (@matt_odell)
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