The Final Cut: Will the Rate-Cycle End in Another Bitcoin Crash?
A 25-bp Gift from the Fed The FOMC just trimmed rates by 25 basis points—historic only in the sense that it may turbo-charge a bull run that is already on borrowed time. With the 2024 halving now 17 months behind us, history says a cyclical top is due around December 2025. Chair Powell’s cut—and the hint of two more before year-end—gives the ≈ US-$ 7.4 trn parked in money-market funds a powerful incentive to reach for yield. Spot-Bitcoin ETFs, BTC-treasury companies and zero-friction broker a...
Robinhood vs. Coinbase: A $160-Billion Duel
Baihua Blockchain • August 11, 2025 Author: Thejaswini MA | Translated & edited by Baihua --- A Quiet War in Your Pocket A silent battle is unfolding on your phone screen, and most people still haven’t noticed. America’s two flagship finance apps—Robinhood and Coinbase—are running diametrically opposed experiments on millions of users. Robinhood sits at No. 14 in the App Store’s Finance category; Coinbase is at No. 20. Both are worth roughly $80 billion. Both chase the same young investors, y...
$500 Million Bet on Anthropic: SBF Almost Made the Most Successful Investment in AI History
In 2021, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, invested $500 million in AI company Anthropic through his hedge fund Alameda Research, acquiring approximately 8% equity. At that time, the AI boom had not yet begun, and this investment was regarded as a highly forward-looking high-stakes bet. However, in 2022, SBF’s empire collapsed due to the FTX crisis, and his assets were liquidated. FTX eventually sold its Anthropic stake in two installments, reclaiming approx...
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Bitcoin Shatters $110K: The Skeptics Who Got It Wrong
The Final Cut: Will the Rate-Cycle End in Another Bitcoin Crash?
A 25-bp Gift from the Fed The FOMC just trimmed rates by 25 basis points—historic only in the sense that it may turbo-charge a bull run that is already on borrowed time. With the 2024 halving now 17 months behind us, history says a cyclical top is due around December 2025. Chair Powell’s cut—and the hint of two more before year-end—gives the ≈ US-$ 7.4 trn parked in money-market funds a powerful incentive to reach for yield. Spot-Bitcoin ETFs, BTC-treasury companies and zero-friction broker a...
Robinhood vs. Coinbase: A $160-Billion Duel
Baihua Blockchain • August 11, 2025 Author: Thejaswini MA | Translated & edited by Baihua --- A Quiet War in Your Pocket A silent battle is unfolding on your phone screen, and most people still haven’t noticed. America’s two flagship finance apps—Robinhood and Coinbase—are running diametrically opposed experiments on millions of users. Robinhood sits at No. 14 in the App Store’s Finance category; Coinbase is at No. 20. Both are worth roughly $80 billion. Both chase the same young investors, y...
$500 Million Bet on Anthropic: SBF Almost Made the Most Successful Investment in AI History
In 2021, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, invested $500 million in AI company Anthropic through his hedge fund Alameda Research, acquiring approximately 8% equity. At that time, the AI boom had not yet begun, and this investment was regarded as a highly forward-looking high-stakes bet. However, in 2022, SBF’s empire collapsed due to the FTX crisis, and his assets were liquidated. FTX eventually sold its Anthropic stake in two installments, reclaiming approx...
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The code born in 2008 has weathered storms and skeptics alike, and this week Bitcoin cemented its immortality by soaring past $110,000 to a record $111,963. With a $2.2 trillion market cap, it now eclipses Amazon as the world’s fifth-most-valuable asset.
For believers, this milestone delivers poetic justice: No long-term Bitcoin holder has ever lost money. MicroStrategy, the corporate flag-bearer of BTC accumulation, sits on $23 billion in unrealized gains. Its chairman Michael Saylor even taunts: "If you’re not buying at all-time highs, you’re already behind."
Yet Bitcoin’s ascent also exposed high-profile detractors—voices of authority who dismissed it as worthless. As their predictions crumble, we revisit their most infamous quotes.
The Oracle of Omaha’s anti-BTC tirades:
2013 (~$100/BTC): "Bitcoin is rat poison."
2018 (~$9,000): "Probably rat poison squared."
2019: "It’s a gambling device… No intrinsic value."
The Missed Opportunity
Berkshire Hathaway’s cash hoard grew from $112B (2018) to $350B (2025)—a bet against traditional markets. Had it allocated just 1% to BTC in 2018 (~$14K peak), that $1.1B would now be worth $8.6B.
Buffett retires in 2024, leaving successor Greg Abel to grapple with this legacy.
The Anti-Crypto Era
2019: "Not a fan. Volatile and facilitates crime."
2021: "A scam competing with the dollar."
The Pivot
Facing 2024 reelection, Trump embraced crypto to court a growing voting bloc. Post-victory, his empire monetized the trend:
Launched World Liberty Financial crypto project
Issued TRUMP meme coin and USD1 stablecoin
Verdict: Cynical? Yes. Impactful? Undeniably.
The Microsoft co-founder’s stubborn skepticism:
2018: "I’d short BTC if I could."
2022: "NFTs are pure greater-fool theory."
2024: "Crypto adds no societal value."
Yet BTC’s "fools" now laugh all the way to the bank.
JPMorgan’s CEO has called BTC:
"A fraud" (2017)
"Worthless" (2021)
"Like smoking—legal but unwise" (2025)
Irony: JPMorgan launched its own stablecoin (JPMCoin) in 2019 and now offers BTC trading.
BlackRock’s CEO evolved from critic to evangelist:
2017: "Crypto indexes global money laundering."
2023: "Digital gold."
2024: "What’s the price of human freedom?" (on BTC’s value)
2025: Predicts "$500K–700K BTC."
Proof even Wall Street’s old guard capitulates.
The Alibaba founder’s 2018 take: "Blockchain isn’t a bubble—Bitcoin is."
A common tech-exec refrain: Praise the tech, scorn its native asset.
The economist’s 2014 quip: "I’d refuse free Bitcoin—it’s worthless."
2025 Math: That rejected BTC would now buy a Shanghai penthouse.
BTC’s rise mirrors religious movements:
No churches, but a decentralized congregation.
No scripture, but an immutable ledger.
To skeptics: "Generations change, but adoption marches on."
As MicroStrategy’s Saylor quips: "There are two types of companies—those that buy Bitcoin, and those that will." The market has spoken—and the faces of doubt still sting.
Final Thought: When "rat poison" outperforms every asset class, perhaps the poison was in the narrative all along.
Data as of May 2025. All "face-slapping" calculations are approximate and for illustrative purposes.
The code born in 2008 has weathered storms and skeptics alike, and this week Bitcoin cemented its immortality by soaring past $110,000 to a record $111,963. With a $2.2 trillion market cap, it now eclipses Amazon as the world’s fifth-most-valuable asset.
For believers, this milestone delivers poetic justice: No long-term Bitcoin holder has ever lost money. MicroStrategy, the corporate flag-bearer of BTC accumulation, sits on $23 billion in unrealized gains. Its chairman Michael Saylor even taunts: "If you’re not buying at all-time highs, you’re already behind."
Yet Bitcoin’s ascent also exposed high-profile detractors—voices of authority who dismissed it as worthless. As their predictions crumble, we revisit their most infamous quotes.
The Oracle of Omaha’s anti-BTC tirades:
2013 (~$100/BTC): "Bitcoin is rat poison."
2018 (~$9,000): "Probably rat poison squared."
2019: "It’s a gambling device… No intrinsic value."
The Missed Opportunity
Berkshire Hathaway’s cash hoard grew from $112B (2018) to $350B (2025)—a bet against traditional markets. Had it allocated just 1% to BTC in 2018 (~$14K peak), that $1.1B would now be worth $8.6B.
Buffett retires in 2024, leaving successor Greg Abel to grapple with this legacy.
The Anti-Crypto Era
2019: "Not a fan. Volatile and facilitates crime."
2021: "A scam competing with the dollar."
The Pivot
Facing 2024 reelection, Trump embraced crypto to court a growing voting bloc. Post-victory, his empire monetized the trend:
Launched World Liberty Financial crypto project
Issued TRUMP meme coin and USD1 stablecoin
Verdict: Cynical? Yes. Impactful? Undeniably.
The Microsoft co-founder’s stubborn skepticism:
2018: "I’d short BTC if I could."
2022: "NFTs are pure greater-fool theory."
2024: "Crypto adds no societal value."
Yet BTC’s "fools" now laugh all the way to the bank.
JPMorgan’s CEO has called BTC:
"A fraud" (2017)
"Worthless" (2021)
"Like smoking—legal but unwise" (2025)
Irony: JPMorgan launched its own stablecoin (JPMCoin) in 2019 and now offers BTC trading.
BlackRock’s CEO evolved from critic to evangelist:
2017: "Crypto indexes global money laundering."
2023: "Digital gold."
2024: "What’s the price of human freedom?" (on BTC’s value)
2025: Predicts "$500K–700K BTC."
Proof even Wall Street’s old guard capitulates.
The Alibaba founder’s 2018 take: "Blockchain isn’t a bubble—Bitcoin is."
A common tech-exec refrain: Praise the tech, scorn its native asset.
The economist’s 2014 quip: "I’d refuse free Bitcoin—it’s worthless."
2025 Math: That rejected BTC would now buy a Shanghai penthouse.
BTC’s rise mirrors religious movements:
No churches, but a decentralized congregation.
No scripture, but an immutable ledger.
To skeptics: "Generations change, but adoption marches on."
As MicroStrategy’s Saylor quips: "There are two types of companies—those that buy Bitcoin, and those that will." The market has spoken—and the faces of doubt still sting.
Final Thought: When "rat poison" outperforms every asset class, perhaps the poison was in the narrative all along.
Data as of May 2025. All "face-slapping" calculations are approximate and for illustrative purposes.
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