From "Buying Pizza" to "Sending Red Packets"—Bitcoin's Journey Beyond the Crypto Bubble
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From "Buying Pizza" to "Sending Red Packets"—Bitcoin's Journey Beyond the Crypto Bubble
From owning Bitcoin, to seeing Bitcoin, to understanding Bitcoin.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Joseph, Freelance Journalist
One
February 10 marks the first day of the Lunar New Year. From early morning, people begin visiting relatives and friends, exchanging New Year greetings.
For Miguel, a grade school student from the Philippines, this day is a little different: he receives a special gift—a Bitcoin red envelope.
Many others, like Miguel, also receive Bitcoin red envelopes. What is Bitcoin? Where do you store Bitcoin? How do you download a Bitcoin wallet?—they ask excitedly.
Red envelopes, known as "red envelope" or hongbao, are an ancient social custom originating from China's Han Dynasty over 2,000 years ago. During the New Year, younger generations pay respects to their elders, who in turn give back red envelopes containing cash. Giving and receiving these envelopes symbolizes the passing of blessings and the beginning of good fortune.
Friends can also exchange red envelopes. A well-known example is the red envelope feature on WeChat, China’s largest social app: it allows users to send digital red envelopes to others or distribute a sum into a chat group for others to “grab.” Since its launch, this function has been immensely popular; statistics show that on New Year's Eve 2024 alone, 190 million WeChat red envelopes were sent. This is just one part—worldwide, including East and Southeast Asian countries, about two billion people practice giving and receiving red envelopes.
Few things bring more joy than receiving a red envelope. For many, receiving a Bitcoin red envelope during the Spring Festival feels both auspicious and meaningful.
Riding the festive mood, Bitcoin surged past $50,000 on Lunar New Year’s Day. Combined with the recent approval of ETFs a month earlier, the entire Bitcoin community is jubilant, sparking tens of thousands of discussions across social media.
Gifting Bitcoin in red envelopes to elders and friends has become the perfect New Year’s gift this season. Long-unseen friends finally set aside work during the holiday, sipping tea and chatting, sharing life updates and New Year plans. This year, thanks to a single red envelope, their conversation includes a familiar yet unfamiliar topic—Bitcoin.
Two
Meanwhile, in a slum district of Lagos, Nigeria’s capital, women and children are receiving Bitcoin red envelopes from NGO workers. Alongside the envelopes come over 200 nutritious meals, helping them combat food shortages caused by flooding.
In recent years, people in many developing countries have begun adopting Bitcoin as a tool to solve real-world problems. Young workers abroad with cross-border remittance needs now use Bitcoin to send money home, completing transactions in minutes for just a few dollars. In regions suffering from persistent inflation, many choose Bitcoin to protect their savings from devaluation. And in countries with large unbanked populations, individuals increasingly opt for digital currencies that allow transfers with just a smartphone.
A red envelope carrying blessings and good fortune gives them a glimpse of another possibility—starting with owning Bitcoin. The seed of Bitcoin quietly takes root in these regions.
“For making Bitcoin popular, this is a great start,” said Old Wang, founder of the Asia-Africa-Latin America Research Institute at 3WW3. 3WW3 is a global community dedicated to promoting and popularizing Web3 in emerging nations. It is one of the initiators of the red envelope campaign and actively explores the development and application of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Three
Some believe 2024 is destined to belong to Bitcoin. From the explosion of the inscription sector, to the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, to Bitcoin breaking $60,000, the Bitcoin ecosystem has become the focal point of the entire cryptocurrency community.Massive inflows of capital and talent are accelerating innovation—emerging protocols like BRC-20 and Atomicals, Layer 2 solutions, and various ecosystem applications are poised to explore infinite possibilities on Web3’s strongest consensus network.
Bitcoin is counterfeit-proof, supply-capped, non-inflationary, and its transaction history cannot be altered. Operating without a central server, it has run stably for 15 years. These transformative features have drawn a devoted following since its inception. They are known as Bitcoiners, committed to building communities and spreading awareness of Bitcoin and blockchain technology.
Over the past fifteen years, Bitcoiners have tirelessly worked to bring Bitcoin into the mainstream:
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In 2015, Luxembourg programmer Felix Weis embarked on a year-long global journey, paying for everything solely with Bitcoin;
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In 2019, Paris-based artist Pascal Boyart embedded Bitcoin donation QR codes into his street murals, allowing viewers to directly fund his art;
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In 2023, Tanzanian teacher and musician Man Like Kweks climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise public attention and funds for his Bitcoin education project POWA.
Bitcoin needs to be recognized, accepted, and used by more people—not remain a celebration for only a few.
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On January 11, 2024, the U.S. SEC approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, marking a significant milestone in Bitcoin’s journey toward mainstream adoption;
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Just one month later, coinciding with the Lunar New Year—the most vibrant festival in the East—it created a perfect stage for Bitcoin to break out beyond its niche.
“The red envelope tradition shares cultural resonance among two billion people globally, while Bitcoin has nearly 50 million holders worldwide. Their convergence represents the fusion of technology and humanity, tradition and modernity, the local and the global. When massive cultural consensus meets massive crypto consensus, Bitcoin will be seen and embraced by far more people,” said Old Wang.
From owning Bitcoin, to seeing Bitcoin, to understanding Bitcoin. Born at the intersection of converging consensus, the Bitcoin red envelope made a breakout attempt this Lunar New Year.
Four
Satoshi Nakamoto once said that in 20 years, Bitcoin would either be widely used or completely forgotten. Thanks to the relentless efforts of internet-era libertarians, Bitcoin has evolved from a niche interest among cypherpunks into the dominant consensus in the cryptocurrency industry. While still far from Satoshi’s vision of widespread usage, countless Bitcoin believers continue pushing forward, bringing it into broader public view.
It is foreseeable that when tens of millions of Bitcoin holders transform into tens of millions of Bitcoin builders, unprecedented energy will be unleashed into the Bitcoin ecosystem, truly propelling Bitcoin into popularity. The Bitcoin ecosystem will spark greater financial innovation, ushering in a new era of centralized financial applications and systems built on Bitcoin. The more innovation and effort poured into the Bitcoin ecosystem, the closer we get to mass adoption.
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