Bitcoin Price Manipulation: Who Is Guilty?
Of all of the questions, we here at CryptoDetail receive on a daily basis the notion of Bitcoin price manipulation is one that we receive far too often.
This article wants to address that thought and put it to rest once and for all.
This question comes directly from the "Crypto Bible," also known as the Bitcoin Whitepaper. Why do we call it that? Like in the Christian Bible, the Crypto Bible gives us the ideals and reasons behind everything crypto since the beginning of time. So, let's start there, at the beginning. There was the word (White Paper) in the Beginning, and the word was Bitcoin, and Bitcoin was good.
As we have discussed many times here at CryptoDetail, that first crypto, Bitcoin, was born of an idea. That idea was that every human on the planet should be in control of their own money. As such, every other person or entity is thereby stripped of the power of every other person or entity's money. Thus, we are each in control of our own, with no control over another.
This independence from one another's money, also known as decentralization, came into being to all know true financial freedom. To be precise, the cryptosphere was born to free us from the control of the governments, banks, credit card companies, and online payment platforms (yes, PayPal, we are talking about you).
So, the Crypto Bible tells us that in the beginning, Bitcoin granted us all equal power over our own money and similar influence over the system as a whole.
Who is Manipulating Bitcoin Prices?
Well, we know that we will hear a bunch of Wall Street-type nonsense in response to this answer. But, the fact is, NO ONE IS MANIPULATING BITCOIN PRICES. No one!
We are not saying that a single person cannot affect the price of BTC. But no one controls that price.
There has been occasional manipulation (yep, here we go jumping on Jaime Dimon again); but, that was manipulating the masses. It was not direct manipulation of the price of Bitcoin. In the early winter of 2017, Jaime Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase and head of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, publicly declared Bitcoin a scam. At the time, this announcement was considered a massive move by the US government to destabilize the price of Bitcoin as a sort of punishment for those of us in the cryptosphere. However, as soon as the price plummeted, JPMorgan Chase bank purchased many Bitcoin for their coffers.
Since JPMorgan Chase bank is heavily involved in Wall Street investments, it must also be that, at the time of Mr. Dimon's announcement, that fiat banking institution knew of the coming Wall Street invasion of December 2017.
We do not doubt that this mass manipulation netted Chase billions. And, were it to have been IBM Stock instead of Bitcoin, Mr. Dimon may have been investigated for inside trading (the least of his crimes). But, he was not.
But again, not even that criminally brilliant bank CEO and government official did not manipulate the price of Bitcoin. He scared people. He made an announcement designed to frighten the masses. And, it worked.
Supply and Demand
The simple fact of the matter is that Bitcoin prices are strictly dictated by supply and demand. Since we each control our Bitcoin, WE contain the cost through that most ancient commerce concept. If I have a Bitcoin and you are willing to give me $ 15k for it today, our transaction will be averaged with all other BTC transactions today, likely raising the value slightly. If you have a Bitcoin and give you $ 1 for it, that transaction will make the price drop slightly when averaged in with the other current transactions. It is as simple as that. We inhabit the exchanges. We decide prices that seem fair to us individually when we initiate a trade. So WE are the only ones dictating the price of Bitcoin.
Again, we know this revelation is sure to cause an uproar. It won't be the first time our assessment has been challenged in the cryptosphere. But let's throw away all of those old fiat investment ideas. Let's remember that Bitcoin is NOT an investment; it is a currency. The currency is ultimately dictated by the number of goods and services the PEOPLE are willing to trade for it. And Bitcoin is no different than any other currency in that regard.
HODL your Crypto despite the FUD
Since each of us plays a part in the Bitcoin price, what can we do to help the King of the Cryptos become more stable and even grow?
Well, the most significant step we can all take is to stop running to the exchanges to sell our BTC every time we hear FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt, like Jaime Dimon did intentionally, as described above). If we, as a group, a population, decide that OUR currency (Bitcoin) is strong enough to survive such things as government FUD or even attacks (remember, BTC was created to free us from that old nonsense) and if we will HODL and only accept a fair going rate for our trades; THEN, and only then will the roller coaster ride of the Bitcoin price flatten and begin its slow, steady growth to the proverbial moon. That is how Satoshi designed this system. And that attitude is how we at CryptoDetail embrace Bitcoin and do our part to follow those original ideas as laid out in the Crypto Bible, the gift of Satoshi, given to us Halloween 2008.
Thank you for joining us on this exploration! Good luck on your crypto journey!! Happy HODLing!!!
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