One small step for Bitcoin, one giant leap for its future potential value...
Small changes can have BIG effects.
Teddy Johnson, a United Postal Service worker, never earned more than $14K per year - but amassed a $70M fortune by the time he was 90.
He grew this wealth by making a relatively small change to his spending habits at the start of his career - investing 20% of each pay check into U.P.S. stock.
(Crazy, right!?)
There's a seemingly small change coming to the world of Bitcoin payments, that could have a big effect on the BTC price over the next decade.
Strike just raised $80M to fund the development of their Bitcoin payments system, that aims to allow retailers to accept Bitcoin quickly and simply.
The system would operate using the Lightning Network, a layer 2 payments system built on top of Bitcoin.
What the hell does that mean?
If Bitcoin were your bank account, the Lightning Network would be Venmo (or PayPal).
Venmo lets you exchange money instantly (for next to nothing), whereas a bank transfer will usually take a few days to be confirmed (and come with weighty fees).
Long story, longer:
Bitcoin = slow/expensive.
Lightning Network = fast/cheap.
So where're these 'massive ripple effects'?
Right now, Bitcoin is considered by many to be Gold 2.0.
You buy it, you hold it, and historically it has grown in value...but you don't really use it for everyday spending.
If Bitcoin can become Cash 2.0 (as well as Gold 2.0), it has the potential to become WAY bigger.
If you need to visualize that, here are some conservative analyst estimates of BTC's 2030 price potential:
Bitcoin stays as 'Gold 2.0' = $550K+ BTC by 2030
Bitcoin becomes 'Gold 2.0 + Cash 2.0' = $1M BTC by 2030
...and before we get too carried away, we'll say this: nothing is set in stone, it could all fall apart.
But the potential is exciting!