Summary Of The Holiday Week
Despite what many had hoped for, bitcoin spent the holiday pumping out the red candles. It’s not surprising as the past has shown a correction following new all-time highs, and bitcoin has spent the first half of November 2021 setting a new all-time high nearly every week. It’s perfectly normal to see a correction in the market. Shake out the jelly hands and let the diamond hands continue HODLing.
Interestingly, there was more than enough bullish news throughout the week, despite Thanksgiving in the U.S. triggering slow news days toward the end. More prominent athletes announced plans to be compensated in bitcoin, large corporations kept stacking and El Salvador made some waves. Let’s take a look at what happened over the holiday week in Bitcoin.
Monday
The holiday week started off on a good note as more news emerged on El Salvador’s planned “Bitcoin City.” The city, which is expected to cost around $17 billion to build, will offer 0% tax on income, capital gains, payroll and property, relying instead on a simple value-added tax. We also announced that their president, Nayib Bukele, would be a speaker at the upcoming Bitcoin 2022 conference.
Software firm Phunware increased its bitcoin holdings by an additional 398 BTC, paying a total of $23.8 million for their latest acquisition. The CEO of Commonwealth Bank in Australia said, “We see bigger risks in not participating,” while discussing their plans to implement Bitcoin services.
Latin America’s largest company, e-commerce giant MercadoLibre, announced plans to allow its users, most based in Brazil, to buy, sell and hold bitcoin through its payments app, MercadoPago. Finally, NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. announced that he would accept his entire salary in bitcoin, joining several other NFL stars who have done the same.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, it was revealed that the Navajo Nation, the largest Native American tribe in the U.S., were already earning millions of dollars from bitcoin mining done on its land. In the same breath, U.S. regulators revealed that they would publish guidelines for financial institutions, such as banks, wishing to offer Bitcoin services in 2022.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) went on their monthly anti-bitcoin rant saying that “bitcoin should not be used as legal tender in El Salvador,” which once again fell on deaf ears. Lastly, U.S. theater chain Regal Cinemas started accepting bitcoin payments for tickets, following in AMC’s footsteps.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings revealed that Morgan Stanley funds have been steadily increasing exposure to bitcoin. Its Growth Portfolio Fund and Insight Fund collectively added over 2 million Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares during Q3 2021.
OneRepublic became the first major-label U.S. artist to accept bitcoin for a show, partnering with payments app Strike to facilitate the move. Former Arsenal player and Major League Soccer star Kieran Gibbs also announced plans to take half of his salary in bitcoin.
Thursday
Thursday, it was revealed that over the course of the year so far, the Bitcoin network has processed over 68% more in transactional volume than PayPal, when measured in dollar value. Unsurprisingly, Thanksgiving in the U.S. made Thursday a quiet day in Bitcoin news.
Friday
Friday continued the Thursday trend with very little news. However, Singapore approved the first bitcoin fund in the country that buys and holds physical bitcoin. Despite a decent dip developing throughout the day, Bobby Lee, the founder of BTC China, one of the earliest bitcoin exchanges, said the current bull market isn’t close to its top yet.
Bitcoin History From The Holiday Week
Several key things happened in the history of Bitcoin last week. On November 26, 1998, Wei Dai first published his proposal for B-money, which would later inspire Satoshi while developing Bitcoin. On November 22, 2009, Satoshi launched the BitcoinTalk forum, which would become the de facto Bitcoin discussion board. On November 27, 2013, bitcoin surpassed $1,000 for the first time, doubling within 10 days.
Verdict
History will remember El Salvador as a pioneer in the early adoption of bitcoin as both a currency and an asset for nations. It’s only a matter of time before more countries start following in its footsteps and the fact that they are now paving the way with “bitcoin bonds” and the world’s first Bitcoin City, ticks another box in country firsts for El Salvador.
Despite the Indian government and the IMF’s FUD throughout the holiday week, there’s more than enough of a bullish case for bitcoin. In fact, this is the perfect opportunity to stack some sats. It wouldn’t be surprising if Michael Saylor announces in the near future that MicroStrategy has once again bought the dip, the same goes for the El Salvadoran government. Two weeks ago, when bitcoin hit $69,000, many said they wished they’d bought more when bitcoin was sub-$60,000. Well, now is the perfect opportunity to stock up.
For long-term HODLers, the last two weeks is nothing new. Just as bitcoin can go on a bull run, it can also correct quite decently. It remains to be said that many, myself included, believe that bitcoin still has a lot of momentum left during the current bull run. Many predicted a $100,000+ bitcoin, so its current price is just another great opportunity to buy some more.
Of course, there is a case that we may see bitcoin correct some more over the coming days, perhaps even weeks. However, inflation across the world continues to rise and the recent discovery of a dangerous new COVID-19 strain has sent markets into a tumble. It’s likely many will see bitcoin as a safe haven during the current market uncertainty, especially as the global economy continues to reel from the seemingly never-ending pandemic.
This is a guest post by Dion Guillaume. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
