Matt Hogan, Bitwise’s chief investment officer, claims in a new statement: note For investors after the Bitcoin 2024 conference, the market may not be optimistic enough about the future of Bitcoin. The conference was a watershed moment that attracted massive political attention and could have a major impact on the future trajectory of Bitcoin.
Why aren’t you optimistic enough about Bitcoin?
The conference saw a number of groundbreaking statements from prominent political figures. First and foremost, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s statement about creating a national reserve of Bitcoin caused a stir. Trump had articulated a vision of America as the “cryptocurrency capital of the world” and proposed creating a “strategic reserve of Bitcoin.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) has introduced a bill that would require the U.S. Treasury to purchase 1 million bitcoins. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has called on the Democratic Party to move away from past restrictive policies and embrace cryptocurrencies as an integral part of the U.S. financial system.
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In a more ambitious appeal, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has proposed that the U.S. Treasury purchase 4 million bitcoins, a figure that would be equivalent to the U.S. share of global gold reserves.
According to Hogan, the political discourse surrounding Bitcoin has rapidly evolved from skepticism to strategic acceptance, a shift punctuated by recent crises and regulatory challenges. The collapse of FTX in late 2022, one of the most significant disruptions in crypto history, has cast a long shadow over the industry.
However, as Hogan points out, the resilience of Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market has been remarkable. “This is crazy. Less than two years ago, FTX collapsed in a historic scam, Bitcoin was trading at $17,000, and skeptics were dancing on the grave of crypto. Now politicians are openly talking about building a ‘Bitcoin Fort Knox,’” Hogan wrote.
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He also noted that less than a year after the SEC’s aggressive action against Coinbase, the U.S. Department of Justice is now partnering with the same platform to secure its crypto operations, reflecting a broader recalibration of government attitudes toward Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
These developments are not just opportunistic, Hogan notes, but reflect a deeper recognition of the growing influence of cryptocurrencies in American society. “When you say ‘opportunistic,’ I say, ‘This is how politics works,’” Hogan said, acknowledging the strategic shifts within the American political sphere.
According to Hogan, the implications for investors are profound. Investors need to reassess the potential scope of Bitcoin’s growth. Hogan highlighted the asymmetry in risk perceptions, where the focus has traditionally been on the downside. “We spend a lot of time focusing on the downside risk,” he said. “However, there is now equal risk on the upside.”
Sentiment on Wall Street is also shifting. In a reported conversation from the conference, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon pointed to bitcoin as a potential store of value, signaling growing interest from major financial institutions.
“Is it possible that we wake up tomorrow to discover that a G20 country has added Bitcoin to its balance sheet, in an attempt to outdo the US? Is it possible that comprehensive crypto legislation will pass faster than expected in the US with stronger bipartisan support? Is it possible that Wall Street will embrace crypto much more broadly than most people expect?” asked the CTO of Bitwise.
Overall, Bitcoin 2024 has been a catalyst for rethinking Bitcoin’s role at both the national and global levels. “These ideas were just dreams a year ago,” Hogan concluded. “But after what I’ve seen over the past week, they’ve become more likely.”
At the time of publishing this report, BTC was trading at $64,136.
Featured image from YouTube / Mr. M Podcast, chart from TradingView.com