Who (or What) is Driving the Monetary Power in the Cryptoverse?

Too Long; Didn't Read

What strikes both impartial and partisan observers of the cryptocurrency market is the polarity of opinions of it. On one side, we have respectable crypto millionaires dubbing Bitcoin “a swarm of cyber hornets serving the goddess of wisdom, feeding on the fire of truth, exponentially growing ever smarter, faster, and stronger behind a wall of encrypted energy.” (I double-checked the quote). Crypto-savvy opinion leaders echo the sentiment with “Bitcoin is the Archimedean fulcrum for a global, digital, non-state economy.” Crypto zealots’ flamboyance is countered by numerous old-school investors and the general “old fart” types who don’t mince words defining the crypto craze in no less colourful language. New-wave academics don’t fall far behind with statements like “Bitcoin is a gambler’s fear index for rich people. […] The notion that Bitcoin is a harbinger of the democratisation of finance is complete horseshit.” Amid all these wordy spars on the citizenry side, governments take steps “for” or “against” that would make even the coolest heads spin. On the one hand, New Zealand adopts crypto as the legal means of paying salaries, and El Salvador passing the Bitcoin Law gives Bitcoin a legal tender status in the country. On the opposite side, we have China banning crypto altogether and India about to do the same while working on their CBDCs along with the rest of the civilized world. It’s no longer a competition. The space is beginning to resemble a mud-wrestling pit before the final gong. This may be a high time to clean up the grapplers, look them in whatever’s left of their eyes, and see who or what drives this generational, social, and political phenomenon we call cryptocurrency markets.