Bitcoin: Still a bargain, when the world keeps turning
The paper with which Satoshi Nakamoto revolutionized the world of currencies on November 1 twelve years ago can still be found on the Internet. "I'm working on an electronic money that doesn't need a third party to vouch for it," the man with the Japanese-sounding name announced modestly. Initial reactions were skeptical. How is a money supposed to work that has no state, no economy, no precious metal, not even a bank behind it?
Nine pages for a new world
The mysterious Nakamoto, who had laid out his reasoning in nine pages full of formulas, was not impressed. His idea of creating a virtual currency that gains its value from the fact that it cannot be multiplied futher indefinitely became a reality on January 3, 2009. On that day, the first so-called Bitcoin client was launched, a program capable of calculating Bitcoins on its own. The procedure for doing so is complicated and absolutely forgery-proof. Moreover, Satoshi Nakamoto envisaged from the very beginning that a maximum of 21 million Bitcoins could be created - each of them is unique and no one ever can myake more of it.
Money for computer freaks
A money for computer freaks, especially since Bitcoins could not be exchanged anywhere for classic dollars, yen and euros in the first few years. But with the onset of the euro crisis, electronic money became an escape currency for the first time. After the partial expropriation in Cyprus, savers in Spain and Italy in particular discovered the parallel and bank-independent currency from the net. In the meantime, investors no longer have to go to the trouble of mining their own Bitcoins - Internet sites such as bitcoin.de or coinbase.com make it possible to buy and sell the disembodied coins conveniently on the computer.
Still a tiny currency
The result of the flight of thousands into the still tiny currency was shown at the price charts back when the euro was on the verge of collapse. There was only one way: Up. An higher. And now, as the states have opened all the money floodgates because of the Corona pandemic, the same effect can be observed again: If a Bitcoin cost nothing until the summer of 2010, because no trade or purchase was possible with the electronic money, the price rosed to $35 in July 2011 as the situation in Greece worsened. A bargain price seen from now, because in the middle of the week, one Bitcoin cost $40,000.
It was the chance of a lifetime for an entire generation to get rich quickly and effortlessly. But hardly anyone took advantage of it. Only about 800,000 people worldwide had a Bitcoin wallet in the summer of 2020 - if that contained 25 Bitcoin, perhaps bought ten years ago at a price of about 1,000 euros, then all those people are millionaires today.
Raising doubts
A boom that raises doubts. Can money that has no value behind it be so valuable? Bitcoin owners probably believe so, because unlike "normal" money, the virtual coins cannot be multiplied at will - and their creation is also becoming increasingly complicated due to the algorithm devised by Nakamoto.
Currently, about 18..8 million of the possible 21 million Bitcoins have been mined. Every 10 minutes 12,5 new Bitcoin are born. But the complete sum will be available in 2033 at the earliest. Currently, the value of all Bitcoins also equals a sum of roundabout 800 billion US dollars. That is still less than the value attributed to Alphabet or Apple on the stock exchanges. And Bitcoin is a currency for the whole world, with the last move of Paypal. That means for almost eight billion people...
The price today reflects that every one of them will spare 100 $ in Bitcoin. But what when it would be 500? Or 1000? Do your own math.
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