Everyone has been discussing the controversial TikTok phenomenon, Andrew Tate, lately. He runs a number of enterprises, some of which have been dubbed "scams," and he has a firm grasp of the social media algorithm. Tate recently discussed cryptocurrency and the reasons they're ideal for wealth concealment from the authorities.
Asked in a December Livestream what he thinks is happening, the self-made multimillionaire with an estimated liquid worth of £200 million, Tate, said “When crypto’s going up and everything’s reaching all-time highs, everyone’s panicking. Too late!”
2022’s crypto winter saw the end of an epic bull run for crypto, with the markets finally accepting that a long-term plateau is likely for the big coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
With Tate being one of the most Googled names on the planet, his ability to influence the markets directly is another component.
“You need to buy the crypto now—now that the prices have tanked,” Tate encouraged his audience of mostly younger generation males.
But he disagrees with the idea that a bull run will occur soon. “People are saying there’s going to be a bull-run soon, that’s all garbage. The real bull run is going to happen in 2-3 years. Now is when you want to race and put in money. Not when crypto was rocketing... That was too late. You need to be concerned now.”
Instead, his emotive message is one of buying now using your income and spare savings in preparation for a run that is later than crypto fanatics would like but earlier than hedgers foresee at a decade away.
“You need to make money as quickly as possible,” Tate continued in his December 2022 stream, talking to his audience, some of whom subscribe to his money-making courses, “so that when the all-time highs come again, you can sell out 25 million dollars.”
Rather than becoming more conservative, he said, “The people who aren’t panicking now that crypto’s tanked don’t understand the world. [They were] panicking to buy it when it was already at the top. Because that’s when they wanted to get more bitcoin. Now it’s down, they don’t want to get it anymore. That is a big mistake.”
A quick look at Crypto and BTC prices
One year ago, Bitcoin's price rose to £54k per coin. In just a year, the cryptocurrency's value had more than tripled. There was no ceiling. The total market value of cryptocurrencies exceeded £2 trillion. Prices in the six figures appeared to be approaching soon. For owners of cryptocurrencies, life was wonderful.
But at that moment, the economy changed direction, and Nov. 10, 2021, ended up being the peak of that specific Bitcoin bull market. The economy was set to experience another upheaval because of the arrival of omicron. Along with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a worldwide interruption of long-distance transportation services, roaring inflation was the next roadblock.
Initially, none of this seemed to phase the fundamental value of cryptos. Bitcoin was designed to be an efficient hedge against inflation, in fact. The original concept was that it could be a totally independent financial system without a connection to national banks and political objectives. That aspect could maintain stability, increasing its worth when compared to the pound sterling, even as that fiat cash depreciates.
Unfortunately, in the volatile market of 2022, a lot of investors disregarded that notion and instead grouped crypto with unproductive growth companies and other high-risk assets. Lots of money was taken from the crypto markets, for some reasons known and others mysterious.
Worsening the outlook, the cryptocurrency industry added new problems to the mix. Stablecoins lost their firm foundation. The exorbitant rates of interest that cryptocurrency creditors had guaranteed to buyers were not able to be met. The world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange crashed and sought bankruptcy protection.
Over the previous year, Bitcoin suffered from all of these problems. As of this post, the value of the biggest and most established cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) is £14,200. From that little period in the world-record high, it’s a decrease of 75% from 1 year ago.
Is some big news coming for Bitcoin and Crypto?
Currently, Bitcoin doesn't intend to change the game.. There are no upcoming or future modifications to the code tree. There are many maintenance messages on the email list for node programmers that deal with small bugs but don't really advance BTC in any new areas.
Recall the latest throughput initiatives of popular cryptocurrencies like the Ethereum Merge or Cardano Vasil? These code forks fundamentally altered how each cryptocurrency functions, enabling quicker computation, less energy consumption, and cheaper transaction costs for Ethereum and Cardano.
Nothing of the kind is being planned by Bitcoin devs.
However, regular Bitcoiners and traders are unlikely to see the few tiny improvements and performance improvements that are boiling in the background. A successful team remains the same.
Over the years, attempts have been made to fundamentally alter the core of Bitcoin, leading to the development of so-called "hard forks" like Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold, but the spinoffs haven't ever actually posed a threat to the core Bitcoin currency. Any effort to make any modifications would probably lead to yet another mainly forgettable hard fork, whereas the core Bitcoin will continue to function as it always has.
Some say that Bitcoins should emulate Ethereum and switch from the resource-hungry proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism to something more manageable like proof of stake (PoS). Specialists fear that this modification will jeopardise the security model of Bitcoin.
A 51% assault requires a substantial investment in mining equipment and electricity to take over the Bitcoin network. Likely, PoW and Bitcoin mining will continue to exist until someone develops a better hacking method since PoS solutions cannot match that core security characteristic.
Bottom Line
It’s more than possible that the Bitcoin tokens that investor buys now for less than £15k will be worth considerably more in approximately 8-10 years. And Tate could be right that this will occur sooner, in 2-3. That said, there is less chance that something will go wrong on the way to that destination. If that's the case, you'll be relieved that you didn't truly stake everything on this exaggerated chance.
So treating Bitcoin just like any other trade makes sense. Buy a little amount if you think the long-term growth narrative is true, but otherwise treat them like any other investment item in a well-diversified portfolio.
Only time knows what's best for your own investment strategy, and Bitcoin is just one of many options out there.
