Iconic Insider — November 2020

By Patrick Lowry, CEO, Iconic HoldingBetween the time I draft this month’s Iconic Insider (Wednesday the 25th) and this issue date, Bitcoin may have hit a new all-time high! How exciting is that? The crypto industry hasn’t been this exciting since late 2017. The hype, the intrigue, the promise of a decentralized financial future feels eerily reminiscent of the tear Bitcoin and other crypto went on during the ICO craze.Yet, 2020 feels almost entirely different. 2017’s pump to Bitcoin’s $20,000 price was largely driven by speculative retail interest, particularly due to new entrants FOMO’ing into Bitcoin, Ether, and ICOs. The pump effect was compounded by poor infrastructural rails and participants, leading to relatively low liquidity for nearly all crypto assets. In 2020 the infrastructure problems have largely been solved, paving the way not just for retail speculators, but the likes of PayPal, MicroStrategy, and genuine financial institutions to jump in headfirst.Earlier this year, I predicted that 2020 was the Perfect Storm for Bitcoin. Given the May halving event, coupled with endless money printing of governments to combat COVID, I hypothesized that Bitcoin would become a safe haven asset, akin to gold, given fears of inflation and risks from other macroeconomic forces. While I was correct, I should have been bolder and predicted that Bitcoin would not only further position itself as a digital store of value but would begin to position itself as the world’s most trusted form of money. Given the very hard nature of Bitcoin and the increasing awareness institutions and the general public have of money printing, this does not come as a surprise. Frankly, the Dollar is more at risk of going to zero than Bitcoin is today.The heightened focus on Bitcoin has seemingly pulled the rest of the crypto market up as well. Major altcoins…