{"id":121058,"date":"2026-02-03T08:53:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/121058\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T08:53:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:53:37","slug":"bitcoin-is-the-manhattan-land-of-the-digital-age-and-owning-ten-coins-is-enough-to-be-considered-a-major-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/121058\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin is the ‘Manhattan land’ of the digital age, and owning ten coins is enough to be considered a major player."},"content":{"rendered":"

Original Title: ‘Ten Coins to Call the Shots’Author: Yishi, Founder of OneKey Wallet<\/p>\n

Author’s Note: This article was published on November 4, 2023, when the price of Bitcoin (BTC) was $34,522. The content has not been modified in any way. @mablejiang suggested I repost this article, so I did. I have not activated X’s creator program and will not receive any revenue from views of this article. I do not have a community nor do I provide any investment advice. I hold no position or judgment regarding future market trends. If you can derive any value from these words, I will sincerely rejoice for you. Below is the main text:<\/p>\n

A storm is brewing. 1,284 days ago, I released a video discussing the Bitcoin halving, predicting that the price would rise to $55,000 post-halving.<\/p>\n

That day was April 17, 2020, and Bitcoin closed at $7,125.<\/p>\n

Several years have passed, and the halving is about to occur again, specifically sometime in April or May 2024.<\/p>\n

This will be the fourth halving in Bitcoin’s history and the last opportunity for ordinary investors, akin to a narrow crack left in an ancient city wall under the setting sun. When this door closes, the final chance to get onboard will also vanish.<\/p>\n

The greatest regret of Xiao Feng was his failure to save Azhu. “As a Khitan, what great ambition could I possibly harbor?”<\/p>\n

Once the golden vase falls into the well, there is no turning back.<\/p>\n

My greatest regret is that after nearly a decade of dedicated entrepreneurship, I haven\u2019t accumulated enough coins, yet the game is nearing its end\u2014a matter of fate.<\/p>\n

Safedin Ammus, a scholar from Arabia, wrote a book in 2018 titled ‘The Bitcoin Standard.’ In this book, he introduced the ‘Stock-to-Flow’ model, which simply describes the relationship between inventory and annual production.<\/p>\n

When we talk about inventory, we are referring to the total quantity of a particular commodity. Annual production is the total amount of that commodity produced in a year. Dividing the two gives us a ratio called SF.<\/p>\n

In the chart, you can see that gold has an SF of 62, while silver\u2019s is 22. What does this mean? It means it would take 62 years to produce the current amount of gold, 22 years for silver, and only 0.4 years for platinum. This all indicates one thing: they are extremely scarce.<\/p>\n

\"Bigjpg\"\/<\/p>\n

We began to wonder whether these commodities became money because of their scarcity. In contrast, platinum and palladium have SF values equal to or less than 1, which indicates they are not as scarce.<\/p>\n

Indeed, gold retains value better than any other metal on the list.<\/p>\n

The goods we use in daily life, such as food, mobile phones, computers, and cars, all have SF values much less than 1, meaning they have never been scarce. Why? Because if there is demand for a product, it can be manufactured. Once people start hoarding, prices will rise, prompting more companies to produce. Prices will inevitably fall.<\/p>\n

This is basic common sense regarding supply and demand equilibrium.<\/p>\n

Thus, we can easily conclude that the higher the SF of a commodity, the better it retains value and the less diluted it becomes.<\/p>\n

Take gold, for example. In 1972, it was priced at $46 per ounce, but by 2020, it reached a new high of $1,744 per ounce, appreciating 37.9 times. So why don\u2019t we mine more gold to meet demand? The reason lies in the fact that gold mining is constrained by technology and cost. If doing something costs more than the eventual profit, no one will do it.<\/p>\n

\"Bigjpg\"\/<\/p>\n

So, what is Bitcoin’s SF? Currently, 19.5 million Bitcoins have been mined. However, a research report suggests that more than 1.6 million of these Bitcoins have been permanently lost.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the actual number of usable Bitcoins is around 17.9 million. Based on Bitcoin\u2019s current annual production, its SF is approximately 54, similar to that of gold.<\/p>\n

In a few more months, Bitcoin’s SF will rise to 108, resulting in an annual inflation rate of only around 0.9%. This means that Bitcoin has become the scarcest asset in human history after gold.<\/p>\n

The halving is the underlying reason for the change in Bitcoin’s supply dynamics, and nothing else. This supply dynamic determines the price of the coin.<\/p>\n

Some people get overly excited at the mention of a Bitcoin ETF, as if the mere approval would send the price skyrocketing to unprecedented levels.<\/p>\n

I suggest you look beyond the media headlines and focus on the substance.<\/p>\n

Whether Blackrock\u2019s Bitcoin ETF gets approved or not, and when it gets approved, are not important. What matters is the expectation of ‘Bitcoin ETF approval,’ which serves as bait to boost market confidence, gradually building momentum that will push the price above $45K without notice.<\/p>\n

You may think we are still in a bear market, but the bear market has quietly ended without your realization. And this momentum will continue; it is not like the tap water in your house.<\/p>\n

Blackrock and the subsequently approved ETFs are like the Suez Canal (Arabic: \u0642\u0646\u0627\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0648\u064a\u0633), connecting old money with new pools. The scale of these funds from traditional finance is enormous, beyond what many people imagine. For them, Bitcoin isn\u2019t too expensive; it\u2019s too cheap, and the market cap is too small.<\/p>\n

The Suez Canal, with its grandeur, connects the north-south waterway between Europe and Asia. Since then, ships no longer need to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. Fleets departing from London in the UK or the port of Marseille in France can sail towards the port of Mumbai in India, returning laden with gold, silk, and spices.<\/p>\n

Darius I, the king of the Persian dynasty, completed the final section of the Suez Canal in 500 BC. He erected a granite stele in one section of the canal, inscribed with the following:<\/p>\n

I am Persian, originating from Persia and conquering Egypt. By my command, this canal was dug, starting from where the Nile flows through Egypt and ending at the sea bordering Persia. With the completion of this canal, Egyptian vessels can sail directly to Persia, fulfilling my desire.<\/p>\n

Saith King Darius: I am a Persian. Setting out from Persia, I conquered Egypt. I ordered this canal dug from the river called the Nile that flows in Egypt, to the sea that begins in Persia. When the canal had been dug as I ordered, ships went from Egypt through this canal to Persia, even as I intended.<\/p>\n

Cool, stylish, and incredibly impressive, this is the charm of the channel.<\/p>\n

\"Bigjpg\"\/<\/p>\n

The approval of the Bitcoin ETF will not impact the present but the next decade or more. Once fiat currency entry and exit channels are unimpeded, the rest is left to time.<\/p>\n

By 2025, we might actually see Bitcoin reach over $100K.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin is gradually evolving into Manhattan real estate, becoming a marker of social status. People choose Bitcoin not because its transactions are faster than other coins, but because it is expensive.<\/p>\n

It is expensive because it embodies the most fundamental consensus in the entire crypto gaming ecosystem, serving as both a store of value and an object for social display, highly sought after by everyone.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin signifies your strength, stability, loyalty, and belief\u2014it is akin to owning a quadrangle courtyard in Beijing’s second ring road, a vintage villa on Hengshan Road in Shanghai, or a hillside estate in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

Its value is determined by the affluent class with real purchasing power, much like Berkshire Hathaway’s Class A shares, which cost $530,000 per share and continue to attract capital without fail; retail investors find it nearly impossible to buy even a single share\u2014so what?<\/p>\n

Ten coins can be called a marquis.<\/p>\n

If one does not understand how the price of a currency is anchored, they do not truly comprehend Bitcoin. Let me first discuss land, and then return to Bitcoin.<\/p>\n

Everyone has played ‘Monopoly,’ but rarely do I see anyone articulate its essence.<\/p>\n

You must understand that the Federal Reserve plays a role similar to the bank in the board game Monopoly. Its goal is not to win but to provide sufficient funds to keep the game going.<\/p>\n

For the Federal Reserve, the optimal amount of assets is the quantity that best enables it to fulfill its mandate.<\/p>\n

Monopoly is, in fact, a land speculation game at its core, focusing on monopolizing resources. The outcome of the game results in only one winner, with all other players left as collateral damage.<\/p>\n

Victory does not stem from competition but from monopoly.<\/p>\n

Question: From where does the fiscal revenue of a central empire originate?<\/p>\n

Answer: It is no different from Monopoly, namely:<\/p>\n

\u00b7 State-owned enterprises<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Publicly owned land<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Monopolistic financial system<\/p>\n

For a centralized government, there are only two concerns in this game:<\/p>\n

1) How to control the entire society through a top-down bureaucratic system;<\/p>\n

2) How to sustain this bureaucratic system through commissions extracted from land, taxation, and the financial system.<\/p>\n

Countries around the world are similar, with little difference throughout history and across regions.<\/p>\n

Take the Tang Dynasty as an example. The government implemented the equal-field system, whereby every male upon birth was granted 80 mu of public land and another 20 mu of hereditary land (private land). During their prime years, they would cultivate wasteland, pay grain taxes, perform labor duties, and annually remit a proportion of their harvest to the government. Upon death, the farmland would be reclaimed. Meanwhile, the emperor also allowed local governments and administrative offices to own operational land and capital.<\/p>\n

This system eventually collapsed because land became increasingly concentrated in the hands of bureaucrats and aristocrats.<\/p>\n

For instance, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, a man named Wang Fangyi acquired vast tracts of land, amounting to several dozen hectares. By the time of Emperor Zhongzong, Princess Taiping owned extensive lands spread across fertile regions. These lands were rented to poor farmers, who had to surrender most of their harvests to the nobility, while the government imposed additional levies. To avoid forced labor, many people fled to rural areas. Initially, the government registered the names of these evaders, but later decreed that fugitives must still pay taxes. As a result, they either sold their land and houses or transferred them to neighbors. This cycle continued until there was no escape left.<\/p>\n

What happens if you lose the game? Start a new round.<\/p>\n

Thus, dynastic changes and peasant uprisings completed the redistribution of resources.<\/p>\n

The modern era is no different. In East Asian countries, most asset values are tied to land. This is the game rule set by the government, with housing as the medium.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the United States emphasizes capital efficiency, so their nationwide game is the stock market, with the purchasing power represented by the 401(k) pension plans serving as the reservoir.<\/p>\n

These are all variations of price anchoring games. Across the world, countless similar iterations exist, such as Rolex watches, Herm\u00e8s Birkin bags, Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards, and limited-edition blind box figurines \u2014 all follow this principle.<\/p>\n

New York City in the United States is developed enough, with high building density, right?<\/p>\n

However, to this day, there are still more than 25,000 plots of idle and underutilized land\u2014exactly 25,000 plots (the light-colored areas in the map represent vacant land).<\/p>\n

Some have even proposed imposing a 3.5% tax on these lands, which could generate an additional $429.9 million in revenue for the city.<\/p>\n

\"Bigjpg\"\/<\/p>\n

Beijing, the most densely populated city in northern China, covers an area of 16,000 square kilometers, but only 2,000 square kilometers are actually urbanized, with a land development rate of just 12.5%, even lower than Hong Kong’s 25%.<\/p>\n

If Beijing wanted everyone to live in large villas, it could easily achieve this by fully developing the city according to China\u2019s planning standard of 10,000 people per square kilometer, which would allow it to accommodate 160 million people.<\/p>\n

If that is the case, why haven\u2019t these governments built extensively to provide housing for all?<\/p>\n

In this game, land serves as a means of production, and monopolists must maintain its scarcity to keep the game going.<\/p>\n

What is price anchoring? This is price anchoring. To win, you must understand Bitcoin\u2019s role in the crypto game\u2026<\/p>\n

Bitcoin is no different from land, except that it lacks supreme will. What sustains the entire system is algorithms and consensus.<\/p>\n

In other words, it is almost unbreakable.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin\u2019s strongest anchor is the consensus around its fixed supply of 21 million coins.<\/p>\n

We can easily categorize Bitcoin holders as the \u201chaves\u201d and those without Bitcoin as the \u201chave-nots.\u201d Dividing 21 million coins among the world\u2019s 8 billion 450 million people gives each person only 0.0026 BTC\u2014clearly not enough to go around. You might question: you keep talking about consensus, but isn\u2019t it all just paper-thin? Can\u2019t I just opt out and start anew?<\/p>\n

In fact, countless people have thought this way in the past, and their actions have proven otherwise. The wave of Bitcoin forks over the past few years was akin to creating private servers. But where are they now?<\/p>\n

These forked coins are today’s catastrophic failures, serving as a monument to those once-naive ideas.<\/p>\n

If consensus were so easily changed, the world\u2019s wealthy would not be holding onto Manhattan; they would simply buy a piece of wasteland in Ohio and build a new capital. But does that sound realistic?<\/p>\n

The establishment of a value coordinate system takes a long time, and once established, it is not easily altered within a century.<\/p>\n

Some people clearly saw the ultimate cheat code but still exited this game prematurely. Hoarding coins is so simple, yet for some, it is harder than reaching the sky.<\/p>\n

Every game has its levels. In past cycles, organizers repeatedly succeeded with various altcoin narratives.<\/p>\n

People say one thing but do another\u2014while their mouths praise Bitcoin, their hands buy altcoins. This plays right into the hands of manipulators, who happily collect the chips. You get junk coins, they get Bitcoin, and both sides mock each other.<\/p>\n

New public chains, platform tokens, forked coins, MemeCoins, storage solutions, algorithmic stablecoins\u2026 The list goes on, and they are all major pitfalls.<\/p>\n

When evaluating something, we should not focus solely on its performance over days or months. During bull markets, many assets skyrocket and claim to outperform Bitcoin, but I ask you: excluding those KOLs who write essays to deceive money, how many people have truly held altcoins long-term and achieved significant results? And measured over years, how many have genuinely outperformed Bitcoin? Yet you listen to their hype.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the narrative of public chains was about surpassing Bitcoin; by 2021, it shifted to surpassing Ethereum\u2026 In primary markets, participants engage in PvP (player-versus-player) schemes, while in secondary markets, they weave stories.<\/p>\n

In this market, aside from Bitcoin, there are no truly decentralized crypto assets. Buying any altcoin means entering an unequal card game.<\/p>\n

Web3 teams, especially anonymous ones issuing tokens, are fundamentally against human nature. When forking a project and tweaking the front-end can yield enormous profits, no one will commit to long-term work.<\/p>\n

The original intention is what it has always been\u2014to make quick money.<\/p>\n

Tokens can corrupt the mindset of a startup team. In traditional internet entrepreneurship, teams work passionately for years through Series A, B, and C funding rounds, cashing out some funds at every stage to improve their quality of life, which is understandable.<\/p>\n

In the cryptocurrency space, the rhythm shifts: mining starts today, listing on exchanges happens tomorrow, and dumping tokens occurs the day after, leaving the project in the hands of the community.<\/p>\n

Finding a team genuinely committed to building within this ecosystem is as difficult as ascending to the heavens.<\/p>\n

Therefore, I say this game is asymmetrical. To win, you must focus on strategy.<\/p>\n

Strategy has nothing to do with short-term gains or losses, macroeconomic conditions, or the size of the prize pool. Successful strategies depend on whether you have made the right decisions. Every time you buy tokens, repeatedly ask yourself:<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Should I participate in this game?<\/p>\n

\u00b7 How much should I bet?<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Is my entry point the best possible?<\/p>\n

Can I force my opponents to fold and exit the game?<\/p>\n

If you can make better decisions than your opponents, then your strategy is viable.<\/p>\n

Even if you cannot win the biggest prize this time, as long as you persist, your chances of winning will accumulate and eventually lead to success.<\/p>\n

However, in my limited experience, there seems to be only one mathematically positive-expectation strategy: accumulating Bitcoin in batches during a bear market and exiting at the peak of a bull market.<\/p>\n

Altcoins are best known for making you mistakenly believe that they are as durable as Bitcoin, with narratives and lies intertwined until you truly believe it and willingly exchange your Bitcoin for other tokens that are worthless in the long term.<\/p>\n

Over the past year, the exchange rate between Ethereum and Bitcoin has been the most perfect trap, with piles of casualties under every red line.<\/p>\n

I have no doubt that one day when the bull market arrives, Ethereum will once again reach new heights, but if you select assets with a 10-year horizon, there is only one choice in the entire cryptocurrency market: Bitcoin.<\/p>\n

As long as the cryptocurrency market continues to thrive, Bitcoin will not fade away.<\/p>\n

If Bitcoin is ultimately proven invalid, then the entire cryptocurrency market will cease to exist.<\/p>\n

\"Bigjpg\"\/<\/p>\n

To hold Bitcoin, you must clearly understand the true value of the asset in your hands.<\/p>\n

Two mainstream perspectives:<\/p>\n

1) Bitcoin is considered a safe-haven asset, leading the way in times of turmoil.<\/p>\n

2) The government protects retail investors (as individuals).<\/p>\n

All of the above are incorrect.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin remains a risk asset to date and will continue to be so for a long time. In 2020 and 2021, massive liquidity injections by governments through money printing fueled a global asset bull market, with its speculative nature thriving on the excessive liquidity of fiat currencies.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s purpose has never been to protect the retail investors, but rather to ensure that every individual contributes sufficient taxes and provides necessary labor value before being absorbed by the system. The government is not an individual; it is a machine that sustains its operational system by monopolizing resources within its jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

The most crucial component of this machine is fiat currency.<\/p>\n

In 1260, Khan Kublai began issuing paper money.<\/p>\n

They used the bark of mulberry trees to make paper money. Between the wood and the rough outer bark of the mulberry tree, they extracted an extremely thin layer of white inner bark. This layer was processed into something similar to what we now call paper, except that it was black in color.<\/p>\n

Once the paper was ready, they would cut it into pieces of various sizes.<\/p>\n

Each piece of paper represented the solemn value of real gold and silver. Why? Because officials would sign their names and stamp seals on these pieces of paper.<\/p>\n

When everything was prepared, the grand official selected by the Khan would take his jade seal, dip it into bright cinnabar, and press it onto the paper. Once the vermilion seal appeared, this piece of paper became a currency equivalent to real gold and silver.<\/p>\n

Anyone who dared to counterfeit such paper money would be sentenced to death. The backing of the paper currency was state authority. However, state authority had a fatal weakness: it was unrestrained.<\/p>\n

Question: Who constrains the mechanism of issuing paper money?<\/p>\n

Answer: No one.<\/p>\n

After currency entered the era of credit standards, issuance relied entirely on the central bank\u2019s discretion, and even debt ceilings could be adjusted at will. In my view, the term ‘ceiling’ can also be removed since everything can be adjusted arbitrarily\u2014what kind of ceiling is that?<\/p>\n

The complex theories and models woven by economists are merely attempts to convince us that the central bank’s issuance of paper money is self-regulated. But if you look at the Federal Reserve\u2019s balance sheet, you\u2019ll find that since the beginning of the credit standard era, so-called constraints have been nothing more than empty words.<\/p>\n

When goods were in short supply, issuing paper currency became the primary means of easing tensions. I remember when I was a child, a steamed bun cost only 25 cents, but now in Shenzhen, you need to pay three yuan or even more. The currency has depreciated 12 times. Since we have become accustomed to buns that are 12 times more expensive, what is there to find unacceptable if the currency depreciates another 12 times in the future?<\/p>\n

We have gradually become accustomed to the way we pay bills and receive salaries, as well as the numbers on bank balances and credit card statements.<\/p>\n

Only when the system collapses do we begin to contemplate the real value represented by those numbers.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, government money printing is borrowing time from everyone who holds cash, hoping that future social productivity will repay this debt. Whether it can achieve this is not a concern for the current administration.<\/p>\n

The role Bitcoin plays is precisely the anti-inflation countermeasure. Its existence is essentially a challenge to fiat currency.<\/p>\n

The long night is approaching, and from tonight you shall stand guard until death. You pledge your life and honor to the Night’s Watch, as it is tonight, so it shall be every night.<\/p>\n

Remember, hold on to your Bitcoin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Original Title: ‘Ten Coins to Call the Shots’Author: Yishi, Founder of OneKey Wallet Author’s Note: This article was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-121058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}