There’s no time for a witty preamble today – something groundbreaking has happened which we need to tell you straight away. We here at BitStarz News towers had to do a double take when we saw it, but there it was in black and white, courtesy of a Reuters report on the recent Bitcoin drop:
Traders said there was no immediate news catalyst for the fall, ascribing the moves to largely technical trading.
Yes, you read that right – A NEWS AGENCY HAS REALISED THAT BITCOIN ADHERES TO TRADING PATTERNS! No China FUD, no exchange hack, no Bitcoin-sponsored seal clubbing party…people take profit when it gets too high! Despite this breakthrough, we’re not hopeful that this attitude will spread, and that mainstream media will continue to invent causal relationships between unconnected events. On which subject…
The Guardian offered their unwanted opinion on the week-long Bitcoin price drop (you know, the one that followed a traditional market cycle almost to the letter) to the diminishing popularity of Facebook’s Libra token. Claiming that the 2019 rise, which started months before Facebook announced their token, was down to the fuss caused by Zuck bucks (which they erroneously call a “rival” to Bitcoin), they then back up their claim that BTC fell after the Libra news settled down with…nothing. Nowhere else in the article do they make the connection between Libra and Bitcoin’s sharp drop, although as usual they wheel out Nouriel ‘it will all go to zero’ Roubini for a balanced opinion on the subject. Sheesh.
Sometimes we crypto enthusiasts need a reminder just how oblivious the rest of the world is to Bitcoin, and if they do know about it they’re put off by its reputation or volatility, or both. The Washington Post did a great job of reinforcing this in an interview published last week with a New York-based financial planner who trades Bitcoin. With phrases like “I’m perfectly okay watching it go to zero” and “It is something that could lose all of its value”, the interviewee does a fine job of putting anyone off Bitcoin for life, although of course we don’t know how much was edited out to suit the Post’s narrative.
Either way, the job is done – get someone who deals in Bitcoin to frighten the public off so it’s not just the Post saying it for once. To give you an idea of the level this article is pitched at, just consider this line from the reporter: “By the way, you can buy fractions of a bitcoin.” Exactly.
Extra, Extra!
If you’d like to read more about what the mainstream media thought about cryptocurrency and blockchain this week, you could try taking a look at these:
- The Washington Post goes bullish on Libra
- Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd joins Maersk on the blockchain
- The Financial Times wonders if Bitcoin is becoming a safe haven asset
- Is Wall Street warming up to Bitcoin again? (clue: they already were, at $3.5k, not at $11k)
That’s it for this week’s Crypto in the News – see you next week for more erroneous facts, connections, and confusion-driven hatred.
