The quoted tweet in the below screenshot was sent on October 12th, 2017, right as Bitcoin was taking off and the mania of the bull run began a crescendo that wouldn't climax until a couple of months later in the middle of December. We all know what's happened since then, the Bitcoin price and the prices of the altcoins created in its wake have cratered anywhere between 80-97% in value. Ridicule from mainstream bloggers and equally unimaginative pundits alike has been flung all over the internet and airwaves as lower prices brought back their confidence in Bitcoin's inevitable demise.

In the midst of the pervasive schadenfreude from the haters, Bitcoiners and the companies smart enough to realize its potential have been extending and reinforcing the plumbing of the on-ramps necessary for allowing large amounts of value to rotate into the network. I vividly remember the chaos during the euphoric phase of December 2017, it felt as if the whole world was trying to buy bitcoin at the same time and the exchange infrastructure was faltering. People waiting weeks to get their accounts verified, then waiting more weeks for the ACH transfer to hit their accounts, and another week for the BTC to hit their account, at which point they could finally withdraw to a personal wallet. There were periods of hours where exchange apps simply wouldn't work and it was blatantly obvious, to me at least, that the infrastructure was nowhere near ready for the mass adoption everyone loves to yammer on about.

As the price of Bitcoin begins to climb out of the depths of the bear market, it's crazy to look back and reflect on where we were the first time prices reached these levels and how much has been built in the 18-months since. Speculators of any stature, whether they be a retail investor looking to stack sats or a large fund looking to stack whole coins, have many more, better options to choose from when purchasing bitcoin.

Is the plumbing ready for the flood? We shall see.

Healthy Hashrate

Hashrate is back on the rise in 2019 as it hit 54 exahashes per second yesterday. Up from 32EH/s this time last year and approaching the high of 62EH/s hit in late August of last year. Uncle Marty senses animal spirits getting restless all over the damn place.

Final thought...

Dutch stroopwafels are like crack.

Enjoy your weekend, freaks.