$100,000 is just the beginning for BTC
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$100,000 is just the beginning for BTC
5 billion internet users have yet to be exposed to Bitcoin.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Zhou Zhou, Foresight News
Bitcoin has broken through $100,000—and this may just be the beginning.
At 10:00 AM on December 5, 2024, Bitcoin officially surpassed the $100,000 mark.
Over the past year, BTC has more than doubled; over three years, it has risen nearly sixfold; over five years, nearly twentyfold; over ten years, 500 times; and over fifteen years—counting from the Bitcoin Pizza Day—it has surged 40 million times. Sixteen years on, Bitcoin keeps finding new starting points.
In these sixteen years, Bitcoin has been suppressed by governments around the world, only to gradually gain acceptance—even public support—from those same authorities. Repeatedly doubted by the public, it has ultimately been embraced by ever-growing numbers of people. In 2024 alone, Binance, a single cryptocurrency exchange, surpassed 210 million users. Every time people thought Bitcoin had peaked or was nearing its end, it turned out to be just another new beginning.
The narrative and significance of Bitcoin itself have continuously evolved, as have people's perceptions of it.
Fifteen years ago, it was merely a small-scale experiment among cryptographers—a Florida programmer in the U.S. bought two pizzas with 10,000 bitcoins. Ten years ago, it was seen primarily as a payment method fostering illegal activities like gambling, drugs, and money laundering, with most use cases rooted in illicit transactions. Five years ago, alongside the broader crypto industry, it began evolving into a new financial system. Loosely described, this ecosystem now includes a "crypto NASDAQ" (Ethereum), "crypto banks" (Tether, Ethena), "crypto securities firms" (Binance), and account systems (MetaMask). Each product serves tens or even hundreds of millions of users. It mirrors traditional financial infrastructure and products—but is more efficient, streamlined, transparent, decentralized, and global. Three years ago, the crypto industry expanded beyond finance into Web3 applications, taking on the new mission of building both the next-generation financial system and the next-generation internet.
Today, more people believe Bitcoin is digital gold. Its market cap has reached $2 trillion—surpassing silver and reaching one-tenth of gold’s valuation. It is recognized and supported by sovereign nations including the U.S. and Japan. And it achieved all this in just sixteen years. Even more astonishingly, blockchain technology underlying Bitcoin has spawned entirely new financial and internet ecosystems. Thousands, even tens of thousands, of crypto organizations within these ecosystems are driving Bitcoin’s adoption forward, making Bitcoin’s vision of becoming a global currency increasingly plausible.
Now that Bitcoin has hit $100,000, everyone is asking the same question: Is Bitcoin near its end? How far is it from the finish line? Does Bitcoin still have new narratives ahead?
Five Billion Internet Users Have Yet to Encounter Bitcoin
$100,000 is still just the beginning—and this time, Bitcoin will welcome a new wave of “buyers.”
This year’s biggest new buyers are undoubtedly BlackRock, the world’s largest fund, and the American corporations and institutions behind funds like BlackRock.
In January 2024, the U.S. approved BTC ETFs, allowing listed companies, pension funds, BlackRock, university endowments like Stanford, and other institutions to publicly buy and hold Bitcoin via ETFs issued by firms such as BlackRock. The approval triggered a wave of institutional Bitcoin buying across America, with global corporations rushing in. Over ten months, BTC ETFs attracted $100 billion in inflows—nearly $10 billion per month flowing into Bitcoin through U.S. fund managers.
Bitcoin’s surge from over $40,000 to $100,000 was largely driven by the U.S. BTC ETF approval, enabling American institutions to purchase Bitcoin through legal channels. The approval and the subsequent ten-month performance have become a miracle in ETF history.
If Bitcoin rises from $100,000 to $200,000, who will be the next wave of buyers?
First, institutionally speaking, current Bitcoin buyers remain predominantly American. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to attract billions in monthly inflows, showing no sign of slowing. American and global corporations and institutions will keep buying Bitcoin through spot ETFs.
Globally, major economies such as Japan, Europe, and China have not yet fully lifted institutional investment restrictions. Once these barriers fall, another leap will follow. According to the well-known "time machine theory," innovative assets and mechanisms typically spread from the U.S. to developed nations, then to developing countries. This pattern holds true across asset and financial innovations—gold, NASDAQ listing mechanisms, SPAC listings—as well as broader tech sectors like the internet, semiconductors, smartphones, and electric vehicles.
Second, from the perspective of ordinary individuals, Bitcoin adoption remains far too low. According to estimates from Silicon Valley’s renowned investment firm a16z using multiple methods, there are currently between 30 and 60 million monthly active cryptocurrency users globally. Even expanding to include all who have ever held crypto, Crypto.com’s April 2024 analysis estimated 610 million global crypto users. With a world population of 8.2 billion and 5.4 billion internet users, approximately 5 billion internet users have yet to experience any crypto products.
The crypto industry aims to build a new global financial and internet system where anyone can use crypto products as easily as standard internet services. In 2024, 5.4 billion people use the internet, but only 610 million are crypto users—indicating a massive untapped market. The industry is actively transforming both financial and internet systems to bridge this gap.
When crypto becomes as ubiquitous as today’s internet, Bitcoin could reach ten times its current user base.
Finally, an even more critical buyer looms: sovereign nations.
Following El Salvador, Bitcoin could become reserve assets for an increasing number of countries. Especially after Trump’s election as U.S. president, major economies like China, the U.S., Japan, Europe, and the UAE may accelerate efforts to include Bitcoin in national reserves—propelling Bitcoin to new heights.
Nations directly purchasing Bitcoin isn’t mere speculation. On November 22, Reuters reported that Trump’s “Crypto Advisory Committee” is expected to establish the promised Bitcoin reserve.
Trump has repeatedly voiced strong support for Bitcoin and the crypto industry. During his campaign, he pledged several pro-crypto measures: adding Bitcoin to national reserves, transforming the U.S. into the global crypto hub, and easing regulations. His proposals have gained backing from political and industry experts. For instance, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced a bill proposing a strategic Bitcoin reserve—aiming to acquire 1 million BTC within five years and hold them for at least 20 years as a hedge against U.S. national debt.
If the U.S. adopts Bitcoin as a reserve asset, most countries worldwide may follow suit by allocating a portion of their reserves to Bitcoin, just as they do with gold.
In short, whether it’s the 5 billion internet users yet to adopt crypto, the continuous $10 billion monthly inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs driven by institutions, or sovereign wealth funds—all represent potential buyers and key drivers for Bitcoin’s rise from $100,000 to $200,000.
$100,000 Is Just the Beginning
$100,000 is only the starting point. For Bitcoin to climb from $100,000 to $200,000, it needs not only new buyers but also a fresh wave of believers and builders to expand its reach.
Crypto professionals may be among the most exploratory groups on Earth.
They must understand developments in blockchain technologies like ZK, as well as emerging trends in AI, VR, and the metaverse. They need deep knowledge of U.S. politics and elections, Fed rate cuts, and crypto policies in Hong Kong and Singapore, while constantly monitoring wars, economic crises, and stock market fluctuations. They must grasp the differences between blockchains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Sui, and Base, and fluently discuss concepts and sectors such as Web3 social, Web3 gaming, DeFi, and NFTs.
From ICOs to DeFi, NFTs, and now mass adoption, crypto practitioners continually push the boundaries of blockchain networks, enabling cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to circulate globally and generate real value.
Many ask: What is the meaning of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency? Why do so many join this industry?
I often reply: When Argentina’s national currency loses more than 50% of its value annually, companies like Binance and Tether offer stablecoins that protect people’s savings—that’s the meaning of Bitcoin. When someone wants to send money across borders to family or friends, but traditional economic and political systems impose high fees and long delays—that’s the meaning of Bitcoin. When a startup founder struggles under existing systems to collaborate cost-effectively with employees across multiple countries with different currencies and financial systems—that’s the meaning of Bitcoin, crypto, and blockchain.
Bitcoin creates value—and continues exploring new ways to create value. From building new financial systems to new internet infrastructures, we’ve only completed a small fraction of this journey. Builders of the future still face a long road ahead.
Final Thoughts
In Republican-era China, the first thing university professors did upon receiving their salaries was rush to the rice shop—because prices would rise within an hour.
This kind of scenario happens constantly, generation after generation, in every corner of the world. Some countries experience milder symptoms—like China, Japan, or the U.S.—while others suffer worse, like Argentina. Some may worsen at any moment, like Russia or Ukraine.
People have good sides and bad sides. So do nations.
The internet emerged to prevent most governments from freely censoring information—resisting the darker side of state power. Bitcoin emerged to prevent most governments from freely printing money—resisting the darker side of state power.
And states cannot stop Bitcoin, because Bitcoin is merely a technology, a tool. As Russian President Putin said at the Russia Calling forum on December 4: “Who can ban Bitcoin? No one. Who can ban other electronic payment methods? No one. Because these are all new technologies.”
This is why Bitcoin has reached $100,000.
This is also why $100,000 is still just the beginning.
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