Anti-inflationary — Bitcoin

Total value of the cryptocurrency crossed $1 Trillion recently. This is because Bitcoin touched $40K for the first time, it more than doubled just in a span of a month, while zooming 5X over the past year. It contributes ~70% of the total cryto market.

Bitcoin was launched in 2009 but it really took off in late 2017, when it almost tripled in the last quarter which was mainly driven by individual retail investors. But then it fell back down to earth.

Why caused it rise multifold in the past year?

Firstly, Big institutional investors like banks and hedge funds got the FOMO bug. For ex. Mass Mutual Life Insurance invested $100M in bitcoin in December.

Secondly, mainstream investors have easy access to bitcoin than ever, with large fintechs like Coinbase, Robinhood, Square, and even Paypal have made crypto trading available at a click of a button.

Moreover, well-known investors like Paul Tudor are endorsing bitcoin & have come out as “bitcoin believers,” leading to building confidence in other retail & institutional investors.

While bitcoin tends to be volatile, some investors see it as a hedge in case the US dollar loses too much value and prices soar. As countries across the globe are printing currencies & injecting back into the economy, it leads to potential inflation. Meanwhile, bitcoin’s supply is capped to 21M out of which ~18.5M bitcoins have been mined out.