The spectacular rise of Bitcoin is not an indication that it and other cryptocurrencies represent a new form of finance or an alternative to the present system. Rather, it is the expression of the increasingly diseased character of the present financial order, a growing malignancy centered at its heart in the US.
Last week, the price of Bitcoin rose to more than $100,000, as other cryptocurrencies also surged, bringing their total value, according to a report in the New York Times, to $2 trillion. The Wall Street Journal estimated the total value of the asset class at $3 trillion—“more than the combined worth of Mastercard, Walmart, and JPMorgan Chase.”
This has prompted claims in the so-called mainstream media, which previously tended to characterize it as some kind of scam, to hail the crypto surge as the wave of the future.
As the Times article went on to comment: “Bitcoin’s rise to $100,000 signals its now-undeniable status in the global economic system. The virtual currency has now become a staple of financial markets, embraced by Wall Street giants and amateur investors alike.”