The 2017 Bull Run

2017 was the year Bitcoin escaped its niche.

At the start of the year, Bitcoin was around $1,000 — still considered wildly speculative by most financial commentators. By December, it had hit nearly $20,000. A twenty-fold increase in twelve months.

The drivers were layered. Japan had legalised Bitcoin as a payment method in April, triggering a surge of adoption in Asia. Institutional interest was beginning to stir. And retail investors — many with no prior experience in financial markets — were flooding in, driven by social media, WhatsApp groups, and the simple human phenomenon of watching friends make money.

Taxi drivers talked about Bitcoin. Family dinners became awkward. Financial advisors who had ignored it for years were suddenly fielding calls. CNBC ran a Bitcoin ticker.

The atmosphere was intoxicating — and dangerous. The same features that make Bitcoin genuinely interesting attracted people who had no idea what they were buying. They were buying the price, not the asset. When the price stopped going up, they had no reason to stay.

By December 2018, Bitcoin was at $3,200. An 84% decline from its peak. The people who bought at $19,000 and sold at $3,000 lost enormous amounts of money.

The people who understood what they held — who had done the work before 2017 — watched the crash as a painful but expected part of the cycle. Many bought more.

The 2017 bull run taught the Bitcoin community the difference between price buyers and conviction buyers. Both arrive together. Only one stays.

Tomorrow: ICO mania — the 2017 gold rush that burned most of the people who joined it.

— The Daily Bit