Buffalo-ish on Bitcoin
Well-known for its volatility, it’s clear that Bitcoin’s price will continue to oscillate wildly as its technology and value is recognized (and adopted) by mainstream culture and institutions. Taking Bitcoin’s humble beginnings, trajectory, and current position into account, I believe the correct stance on Bitcoin is neither bullish nor bearish, but buffalo-ish (technically, we believe it is bison-ish, but in this post we will use “buffalo-ish” for the sake of colloquial sympathies).
I’ll assume the reader understands what a market bull or bear is. However, I have never seen a self-described market buffalo. Let me explain.
American bison have a tumultuous history, one of drama, getting beat down worse than Rocky and then making a comeback that puts the greatest in sports history to shame. Most folks know their story, but I will digress some at first to help make my point. American bison once roamed the Great Plains with complete freedom, building the most fertile soil in the world. In great numbers, which were estimated to be between 30 and 60 million individuals at their peak, these animals would have dominated the continent from a human perspective. Herds of tens of thousands could be seen roaming across the great American Serengeti.
The first anglo explorers of the American West were of course astonished by the extraordinary numbers of the animals, which seemed infinite. Gazing across the prairie and seeing moving bison herds as far as they could see, these men (and likely, the Indians that inhabited the country they probed into) would have thought, and did think, the extinction of these species to be entirely impossible. Yet, their numbers were reduced from the mighty 30-60 million to around 500 individuals in the 1800s. This profound destruction and loss was so dramatic that within centuries, those who perceived the bison as an infinite resource were lamenting the inevitable extinction of the exact same animal they previously professed as infinite.
The increase of these 500 individuals into the 500,000 individuals that constitute North American herds today is an amazing tale that has been retold many times, so I won’t detail it here—the facts that matter are that bison were first treated like an infinite resource of little value, which caused wonton waste on a terribly epic scale. This insane destruction was followed by the recognition of the value of this resource, and the acknowledgement that an intervention would be necessary to actualize the resource’s fullest potential of value. Interventions were made, popular opinions changed on the animal, and now bison is recognized as one of the most dollar-per-pound meats in the United States, treated as a premium delicacy item. Bison ranching and related industries grow every year, as does the population of bison, as well as its popularity and awareness of their history in the collective consciousness. Funny enough, almost nobody refers to these creatures as American bison—almost all of us know them, and refer to them with endearment, as “buffalo.”
Bitcoin parallels buffalo in myriad ways. In its most humble beginnings, it was treated as something virtually worthless. Acquiring bitcoin through “mining” was incredibly easy, something one could do on a home pc. Many people accumulated very high numbers of bitcoin, only to think it worthless later as adoption was far from rapid, and those individuals often lost the keys associated with their abundant bitcoin. Many of these early adopters apparently did not recognize the true value of what was in front of them. This thing that was so easy to get, seemed so abundant and relatively worthless, has turned out to be a precious resource and growing in value everyday, and recognized by more people as valuable everyday.
Bitcoin’s story goes a little offbeat, with it gaining traction and being used significantly for generally-illicit purposes, such as buying drugs etc. through Silk Road and other such exchanges. However, the story parallels that of the buffalo in the sense that eventually, people began to see bitcoin’s value. There actually was something of value to this little code, and people began trading real items of value for it. Soon, people were paying significant amounts of money for significant amounts of power to mine and acquire bitcoin. With the advent of Bitcoin ETFs (which in essence violate the spirit of bitcoin, but I won’t digress about that here), exchanges, cold-wallet manufacturers, wallet software, and more, there is now an entire (and constantly-evolving) industry surrounding bitcoin, just as there has been an evolving industry surrounding buffalo and American bison.
The resilience of both Bitcoin and Buffalo are beyond doubt at this point. Both of these entities have proven track records of being thought as worthless, being recognized by a minority as having some value and worth reviving, and finally taking parabolic, heroic trajectories with their recognized value growing literally by the moment. We believe that Bitcoin and Buffalo are both likely to increase in recognized value over time, and are some of the most resilient, badass, and awesome entities existing today.
I cannot recommend keeping buffalo in your freezer and on your shelf enough, and while I would never give financial advice, I never think it hurts to have some bitcoin on a cold wallet (and off of the exchanges, or outside of Bitcoin ETFs).
In conclusion—be buffaloish on bitcoin! We think it is here to stay for the long haul, despite its wildly varying price, and equally-wildly varying public opinion on it. There will always be a niche for buffalo and bitcoin, and they will always offer immense value to any individual valuing their own sovereignty and self-sufficiency.