Transition of Bitcoin as a tool for freedom and sovereignty to an asset class

During the years following the bitcoin whitepaper publication in January 2009, most people either didn't know of or didn't care about any of the preceding history. Bitcoin was seen as trivial at best or criminal at worst. Those of us who spoke about the direction of innovation were laughed at, and we struggled to understand what was so funny about trying to make things fairer, safer, and less abusable. In the early years, nobody saw Bitcoin as an asset class. That wasn't the point.

Nonetheless, in February 2011, bitcoin's price matched the U.S. dollar for the first time. This brought new investors into the market, and over the next four months, bitcoin's price continued to rise – peaking at over $30. This was when things started to change.

Not only were investors becoming a part of the community, but mining began to be viewed as lucrative. At the time, the shifting Overton Window wasn't obvious, as most people still thought what we were doing was nonsense.

Slowly but surely, bitcoin and blockchain shifted from an opportunity to solve fundamental issues to a mechanism of wealth creation. Large corporations waded in, massive mining farms monopolized the market, and then, in 2024, bitcoin ETFs were approved by the SEC, followed by the Ethereum ETF in May 2024.