Jameson Lopp, a cryptocurrency expert, revealed that Bitcoin has been declared “dead” 474 times since 2010, with only seven such proclamations in 2023 so far. The latest was during billionaire tech investor Chamath Palihapitiya’s statement on the All-In podcast on April 22, claiming “crypto is dead” in America.
Palihapitiya’s comments seem to be in the context of overreaching regulations. A firm has stated it only adds Bitcoin death notices if the content explicitly claims BTC is or will be worthless, and it must be produced by an individual with a significant following or a website with considerable traffic.
The firm also found that more than half of this year’s death notices came in January, just two months after the collapse of FTX, and during a time when Bitcoin struggled to rise above $17,000. Despite reaching its all-time high in 2017, that year saw the most death notices with 124, even as BTC prices surged by 1,900% and hit $20,000 in December.
The third-highest number of alleged Bitcoin deaths was recorded in 2021, another peak year when the token rose 138% to reach an all-time high of $69,000 in November. Analyst Oliver L. Velez, observing the bell curve and the downtrend, suggested that within two to three cycles (each lasting four years), declaring Bitcoin dead will be as absurd as claiming the “air” will fail.
Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency periodically declared dead. Ethereum is currently out of favor, with some critics calling for ETH deaths on social media. However, Ethereum advocate Anthony Sassano responded to the “death of the ETH party” on December 21 by purchasing more tokens.