“There and Back Again”: Bitcoin’s Revival for “The Lord of the Rings” Fans Explained (Op-ed)

2022-2023 was an excellent time for naysayers who blasted, denounced, insulted, and even declared Bitcoin (BTC) “dead.” A “dark age” in which there seemed to be little hope that the primary cryptocurrency would rise again or even surpass its previous highs.

However, BTC always seems to have the last word (at least it has in its 15-year history). Its price launched a massive rally in early 2024, leading to an unprecedented high of over $72,000.

The asset is back on the front pages; The hype around it is increasing day by day, while it is becoming more and more difficult to find critics. Well, Peter Schiff still claims that BTC is a bubble that could burst at any moment and advises investors to exit the ecosystem and look into gold, but we've heard that before, right?

Bitcoin has actually increased in popularity in recent weeks, but that is likely the result of the rising price drawing in the crowds once again. But BTC is much more than just the dollar and has numerous fundamentals. In the following lines we take a closer look and draw a comparison to the epic fantasy novel (and trilogy film) “The Lord of the Rings”.

Bitcoin is like Gandalf

Ahh, yes, the mighty wizard who fought bravely against Saruman and defended the community by standing in the way of the fiery demon Balrog. Gandalf's battle against the creature almost cost him his life, but instead of going into the shadows, he returned stronger than ever. And whiter.

Dear LOTR fans, consider Bitcoin resistance as one of your favorite heroes. Those of you who have been following the market know that the price of BTC crashed below $16,000 in November 2022 (shortly after the crypto exchange FTX collapsed). A year and a half later, the asset is not dead; on the contrary, his valuation has exploded by 350%.

A similarly shocking plunge also occurred in 2018 when BTC plummeted from nearly $20,000 to $3,000.

BTC is definitely like Aragorn

We can't talk about The Lord of the Rings without mentioning Aragorn – the brave leader of men, the heir to Gondor's throne, and the one people follow and look up to.

Well, Bitcoin has some of the same leadership characteristics. It is (by far) the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and its price fluctuations are often mimicked by alternative coins. The asset is decentralized, does not obey anyone and does not rely on intermediaries (such as money transfer companies or banks) to facilitate transactions.

Aragorn also strives for independence and opposes Sauron's ambitions to control the world through the power of the Ring.

What about the pointy-eared Legolas?

Bitcoin's network is also highly precise, just like Legolas, whose arrows never miss their target. The average block confirmation time is around 10 minutes and has been maintained for many years.

Bitcoin is extremely reliable and has only experienced two outages in a decade and a half, the second occurring over ten years ago.

Well, no one is perfect as a child, and let's admit it: we all think that Legolas may have gotten at least a little tipsy after drinking one too many pints as a teenager.

However, his transaction time is more similar to the speed of Legolas' small and loud friend – Gimli – the proud son of Gloin. He may not be the fastest, but you know you can count on him.

Is Bitcoin “the precious thing”?

This can be seen and will only increase due to an event called the BTC halving. It cuts the reward miners receive for validating new blocks on the blockchain. The upcoming halving (scheduled for April) will reduce the distributed supply from 6.25 BTC to 3,125 BTC.

The process will repeat several times (approximately every four years) over the next century until all 21 million BTC are mined. This creates a scarcity effect and can potentially make each BTC more valuable over time, just like the desire to own “the one ring to rule them all.”

Don't be like Smeagol!

Bitcoin is indeed more vibrant than ever and has several advantages, which is why it is easy to see how many consider it an attractive investment opportunity. However, you should always calculate the risks and jump on the bandwagon with caution. One of crypto's golden rules is that investors should enter the ecosystem with an amount they are willing to lose (and no more).

Finally, we saw what happened to Smeagol, who became obsessed with The Ring and eventually died in the fires of Mount Doom along with his “treasure.”

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