Whenever the bitcoin price drops sharply intraday, some less-steeled investors get the sinking feeling it’ll never rise again.
That dynamic certainly didn’t bear out on the morning of July 18th, when bitcoin gained approximately $1,200 USD in the span of two hours to hit over $10,600.
That spike accounted for an eight percent rise on the day, with BTC still trading near $10,600 at press time. The rapid movement comes after a spate of selloffs since late June brought the genesis cryptocurrency’s price from near $13,000 to $9,400.
With the Thursday uptrend, bitcoin is now back in five-digit USD territory after it experienced price resistance around $10,000 in recent days. While BTC remains down eight percent on the week, its latest acute price surge suggests the door isn’t shut on continued bullish momentum in the cryptoeconomy.
Indeed, just going off round psychological price marks, if bitcoin can spike decisively past $11,000 next, then $12,000 could be hit in short order before another acute market correction occurs.
It was thought by some analysts that the OG cryptocurrency’s mid-summer downturn was being driven by fresh critical remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who respectively said Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were “highly volatile and based on thin air” and a “national security issue.”
Some see those comments as a tipping point from which elements of the U.S. government intend to wage a crackdown on various parts of the cryptoeconomy. Even if that ends up being the case, the Thursday price action indicates that buy pressure in the space hasn’t been scared off for now.
Notably, beyond being in the red for the week the bitcoin price is still up 16 percent on the month, up 101 percent over the last three months, and up 43 percent on the year. So where does it go next? Perhaps increasingly toward “safe haven asset” status.
Ray Dalio: Prepare for a Paradigm Shift
American billionaire investor Ray Dalio published a research note this week titled “Paradigm Shift.” It’s a piece worth reading for anyone who is thinking deeply about cryptocurrencies right now.
It’s not that Dalio mentioned bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in the note. Rather, it’s what he was arguing therein that will resonate with many in the cryptoeconomy who are grappling with what the future of money could or should be.
In the note, Dalio laid out an argument for how swelling debt growth and rising conflicts are among the factors that may usher a new economic paradigm into the world. The prolific investor said such a reality necessitated a search for new viable stores of value:
“So, the big question worth pondering at this time is which investments will perform well in a reflationary environment accompanied by large liabilities coming due and with significant internal conflict between capitalists and socialists, as well as external conflicts. It is also a good time to ask what will be the next-best currency or storehold of wealth to have when most reserve currency central bankers want to devalue their currencies in a fiat currency system.”
Of course, Bitcoiners will hail BTC as the best way to move beyond inflationary central banks. Reasonable people can agree or disagree on that point, but Dalio’s argument kicks off a discussion that’s worth having regardless of where it leads: what is the new way forward?
In the very least, it’s clear the powers-that-be are comfortable with the old ways of doing things. Before President Trump bashed bitcoin days ago, he implicitly called for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to print more dollars in order to keep up with the “big currency manipulation game” he has accused China and Europe of undertaking.
The future remains ever inscrutable, but such inflationary rhetoric is sure to continue driving some toward bitcoin as a deflationary, fledgling haven asset.