After a steep fall in late July and early August, the price of bitcoin has recovered recently, rising by some 15% in the past few weeks to above $7,000. Amid the many ups and downs in crypto markets—more downs than ups, these days—some people are eager to call the upturn the start of something bigger.
“I have a feeling this bull run will be a pretty significant one,” tweeted Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, founder of crypto exchange Binance, to his 213,000 followers. Then, shortly after posting his cheerful prediction, he deleted the tweet, but not before some sharp-eyed users saw it.
To casual observers, the tweet may seem unusual. What is the CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange doing posting a price prediction? Would the boss of Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange ever be so bold?
It doesn’t look like the tweet had a discernible impact on crypto prices, as trading on Binance closely mirrored global prices. That said, the episode reflects a deep-seated bullishness among crypto backers which endures despite the cooling off in markets from the mania at the end of last year.
For instance, last week, Anthony Pompliano, a founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital Assets, told newsletter subscribers that his $50,000 bitcoin prediction remains within reach, eventually:
I predicted that Bitcoin could reach $50,000 by the end of this year — I was wrong. As I’ve looked at more data, it is apparent that I was correct to predict a Bitcoin price of $50,000. Unfortunately, my timeline may have been off by as much as 52 months (4 years and 4 months).
The beauty of financial prognostication is that forecasts simply fade away, lost as attention turns to the next news cycle. On crypto Twitter, bullish messages have become a reliable form of social capital: they are liked and retweeted by the masses, and often earn their poster a healthy online following.
In other words, all you need to do is buy, “hodl,” and wait—and maybe wait some more.
Sign up for Quartz Private Key, the smart, busy person’s guide to world of crypto.