I remember my final days in New York City very vividly. I worked in 4 World Trade Center, near financial district in Manhattan. Shortly after the pandemic became serious, news broke out that a group of folks who worked in my building, such as the head of the port authority and his team, contracted the virus. I remember getting the email from the building manager stating that everyone had to leave the building as soon as possible and that they weren’t sure when the office would re-open again.
Work from home will be so great I thought to myself: no more riding the subway, dealing with the craziness of NYC rush hour, and working all day in PJ’s.
What I didn’t realize was how devastating this whole experience would be for the everyday people, local businesses, coffee shops, and people who aren’t part of the cozy 1%.
The pandemic really exacerbated the divide between the wealthy and working class Americans. It hurt to see all these rich folks escape to their summer homes in the Hamptons, while the rest of us were anxious about maintaining our employment, being able to pay rent on time, and where our futures were heading. New York city forever changed, and it hurt to see such a vibrant city go into full pain.
Seeing all the pain and suffering really made me lose faith in our leaders, government, and higher institutions. As I started to lose my faith, I started to look for new figures and systems to trust .
So, I bought some Bitcoin and Ethereum.
I was excited to get fully immersed in Bitcoin and crypto again. The last time I was seriously invested in this space was in 2017/2018, when the peak price was around ~$19,200. The space was so different back then, but this time I expected a fresh wave of energy to come in.
I predicted that the pandemic would make carrying cash a relic of the past, and digital currencies would become more prominent. In addition, I saw the federal government printing more than $3 trillion dollars, which is roughly three-quarters of the entire amount previously created in the U.S. central bank’s 108-year history. This lead me to think that the value of the dollar would decline amongst foreign exchange market.
So, I started dollar cost averaging since the start of the pandemic. In hindsight, getting back into crypto was the best decision I made during the pandemic period.
Why are more people accepting crypto?
When Bitcoin was first launched in 2009, there were only a handful of innovators who were aware of it and believed in it. Since then, there have been a few major waves of acceptance, all of which led to the rise of crypto prices. The interesting thing about these price spikes is that they tend to bring in more folks. Some of them come for quick cash, and others HODL.
In the early days, Bitcoin was widely adopted by those I would call “Innovators/risk takers”. If you take a look at this lovely technology adoption model below, you see that most technology adoption cycle follows a bell curve.
The first group of people to use a product are called “Innovators”. followed by “Early adopters” This group tends to be folks who are risk takers and like cutting edge concepts.
If you’re familiar with how hard it is to get a customer to use a product, you know that the toughest part of any adoption model is crossing the bridge between early adopters and early majority to late majority.
Right now, I would say that we are in the “Early adopter” phase and we have not yet crossed the bridge to early majority. In order to get there, we need a an investor that appeals to the mainstream media, such as Warren Buffet to invest in Bitcoin.
FYI- Warren Buffet is an OG investor who has made a fortune and he is famously known to say “he only invest in what he believes in”. We need someone like Warren Buffet to transcend over to the hump of the bell curve and get Bitcoin to gain acceptance.
Widespread acceptance of Bitcoin will lead to do a better way of banking, lending, capital raising, and building social economics. Once there is a large enough group accepting the idea, the growth of the underlying technology will happen in a matter of time.
Where is crypto heading in the future?
The current hype is unlike any hype I’ve seen before. In 2017, there was a flood of outsiders coming in without much development on the inside. Fast forward to 2021, and it feels more hype driven.
Maybe crypto has left a lot of crypto developers with nothing to do, but build and mine? Whatever the reason is, there is a higher sense of energy and productivity in this space now. I believe COVID-19 is going to catapult crypto into its next acceptance cycle. We are living through a time where people are desperately seeking hope. While crypto won’t be the solution to all of our problems, it could be the thing that gives a lot of people hope for a brighter future.
When I see how many new people are learning about and accepting crypto thanks to the COVID scare, I get excited for crypto’s future. All it takes is a few more light bulbs going off. With each new light, the shine grows brighter for others.
Yours truly,
Nikki
Hi, I'm Nikki Beesetti 