Corona accelerated ‘digitalized’… Bitcoin for 2 pizzas 11 years ago, 500 billion won

Corona accelerated ‘digitalized’… Bitcoin for 2 pizzas 11 years ago, 500 billion won

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The price of bitcoin is displayed on the electronic board of’Upbit’, a cryptocurrency exchange in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 17th, when the price of the cryptocurrency (virtual currency)’Bitcoin’ surpassed $50,000 for the first time in history.

In 2008, a person who identified himself as “Satoshi Nakamoto” published a 9-page paper online. This paper, titled’Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’, distrusted the existing financial power and suggested the concept of’Bitcoin’ as a new currency.

In January 2009, right after the paper was published, the first block of Bitcoin was created, and Bitcoin was released to the world. IT developers who were enthusiastic about the spirit of’liberalism’ of Bitcoin started mining Bitcoin. However, these were only a few. At the time, the market reaction towards Bitcoin was cold.

Bitcoin was first traded between individuals in May 2010, a year later. “I’m going to buy two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins ($41 at the time),” said Laszlo Hanyek, a computer programmer living in the United States online. Four days after the post was published, the transaction was concluded, which became the starting point for Bitcoin to establish itself as a means of transaction.

Twelve years have passed since Bitcoin appeared in the world. Bitcoin has been drawing attention as an investment vehicle that is not interfered with by the central government and has drawn an upward curve. 10,000 bitcoins exchanged for the 2nd pizza pizza in 2010 is worth 564.5 billion won (56.64 million won per bitcoin) at 4:40 pm on the 17th. It jumped a whopping 12,426,256 times.

Bitcoin has attracted investors from all over the world, attracting attention as an investment vehicle that is not interfered with by the central government. In particular, the cryptocurrency investment craze that started from the end of 2017 served as an opportunity to make the name Bitcoin known to the public. The cryptocurrency industry, which was in the rugged zone of regulation, became more speculative and used the stigma of “fraud”, and it seemed to falter afterward.

However, Bitcoin began to gain attention again from last year when the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) hit the world. The bitcoin bull market, which started in earnest from the end of last year, is a significant increase compared to the 2017 investment frenzy. What’s different from just four years ago is that the blind investment, centered on ordinary investors, is aligned with the entry of institutional investors.

The industry has come up with its own interpretation of the Bitcoin bull market. There is also an analysis that it is a natural phenomenon that occurs when the amount of bitcoin is scarce because the total issuance of bitcoin is fixed. However, the most probable cause is that the currency value is falling and the dollar is weak amid the indiscriminate liquidity supply triggered by Corona 19.

Central banks of each country have been launching large-scale economic stimulus measures according to Corona 19 since last year, and as an unprecedented monetary easing policy continued, cryptocurrency has begun to attract attention as a means of hedging (hedge) against inflation concerns. In addition, news of global financial institutions such as Fidelity and JPMorgan, the entry of global payment and remittance company PayPal into the cryptocurrency industry, and the purchase of bitcoin by global companies such as Tesla fueled the cryptocurrency bull market.

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Industry experts agree that this bull market was a set procedure. However, it is an analysis that the economic crisis triggered by Corona 19 has created a phenomenon that accelerates to a non-face-to-face digital economy. As the world becomes digital at a rapid pace, interest in digital currency is growing.

In fact, at the beginning of this year, heads of financial authorities cited’response to digitalization of finance’ as one of the main tasks of this year, and as investment companies as well as securities companies are showing interest in the cryptocurrency market, this argument seems to be fueling. On the 3rd, Hanwha Investment & Securities acquired 58.3 billion won worth (2,06,450 shares) of Doonamu shares, an upbit operator. At the time, Hanwha Investment & Securities said, “In order to respond to the growth of fintech, we decided to acquire mid- to long-term investment in companies with new technologies.”

Hashed CEO Kim Seo-joon said, “(Bitcoin) will become a bigger trend as a hedging for the quantitative easing of central banks,” and predicted that this year, Bitcoin will exceed 100 million won ($100,000) each.

CEO Kim said, “Bitcoin’s market cap has already exceeded the currency market cap of poor economies. In 2021, there is a possibility that a country that buys bitcoin as a reserve asset will appear.” The fund (ETF) will be approved and the price of Bitcoin will challenge $100,000.”

Meanwhile, according to the cryptocurrency trading site’Upbit’, bitcoin is being traded at 5.64 million won, an increase of 3.11% from the previous day at 4:40 pm. Bitcoin rose more than 1.7 times compared to the transaction price of 3,2296,000 won (closed price) on January 1 of this year.