Bitcoin buries the tulip myth after 17 years of proven resilience: Balchunas

Bitcoin tin nary longer beryllium compared to the “Tulip Bubble” owed to its endurance and resilience implicit the years, according to Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg’s exchange-traded money expert.

“I personally would not comparison Bitcoin to tulips, nary substance however atrocious the sell-off,” said the elder ETF expert connected Sunday. 

Balchunas pointed retired that the tulip marketplace roseate and collapsed successful astir 3 years, “punched erstwhile successful the look and knocked out,” but Bitcoin (BTC) has “come backmost from similar six to 7 haymakers to scope all-time highs and has survived 17 years.”

“The endurance unsocial warrants shedding tulip comparison, fto unsocial the information that it’s inactive up similar 250% [over the] past 3 years and was up 122% past year.”

Some radical conscionable hatred this plus and privation to enrage the radical who similar it, and that volition astir apt ne'er change, helium opined. 

Earlier this month, “The Big Short” capitalist Michael Burry called it “the tulip bulb of our time.” In 2017, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon famously said Bitcoin was “worse than tulip bulbs” and a “fraud.” 

Tulips pumped and dumped successful 3 years

The Dutch tulip mania was a speculative frenzy successful the Netherlands during the Dutch Golden Age. Tulip bulbs, which had been introduced to Europe from Turkey, became presumption symbols among affluent Dutch merchants.

Prices began rising rapidly successful 1634 and reached highest mania successful 1636, erstwhile immoderate uncommon tulip bulbs sold for much than the terms of a location successful Amsterdam. The marketplace abruptly collapsed successful 1637 with prices plummeting by implicit 90% successful a substance of weeks.

Related: ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ writer warns Bitcoin ‘bubble’ could burst soon 

The tulip mania is often cited arsenic 1 of history’s archetypal recorded speculative bubbles, and gave emergence to the celebrated pump and dump illustration pattern. 

Tulip mania lone lasted 3 years. Source: Eric Balchunas

Bitcoin and Tulips: a flawed comparison

Balchunas continued to authorities that each Bitcoin has done truthful acold this twelvemonth is springiness up the utmost excess of past year. 

So adjacent if 2025 ends up level oregon moderately down year, BTC is inactive operating astatine astir 50% of its yearly average. Assets are allowed to chill disconnected erstwhile successful a while, adjacent stocks, and radical are “overanalyzing it,” helium said. 

The ETF adept besides questioned arguments astir Bitcoin being non-productive.  

“Yes, Bitcoin and tulips are some non-productive assets. But truthful is gold, truthful is simply a Picasso painting, uncommon stamps, would you comparison those to tulips? Not each assets person to beryllium productive to beryllium valuable.”

Tulips were “marked by euphoria and crash,” and that’s it; Bitcoin is simply a “different animal.” 

Head of strategy astatine German Bitcoin treasury institution Aifinyo, Garry Krug, concurred, stating, “Bubbles don’t past aggregate cycles, regulatory battles, geopolitical stress, halvings, speech failures and inactive instrumentality to caller highs.”

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