No matter how much I study Bitcoin, there’s always something that amazes me.
Today I discovered something really cool: If we consider the “beginning” of the modern stock market in 1971 – when the US abandoned gold – Bitcoin has been online longer than the stock market.
Since 1971, the stock market has had 10,737 hours of active trading hours.
Bitcoin – 38 years younger – has had 123,774 hours of active trading hours.
What an absolutely interesting idea! How could it carve out space in the financial world as fast as it did? Especially considering a comparison to traditional markets. The number of trading hours shows whence it comes and what real value it brings to investors.
I find it very interesting to look at how this will shape the overall financial future. Fast adoption and innovation in cryptocurrencies tell us that we are in for a huge shift. It is going to be quite interesting to see how traditional markets react to it.
How is this data calculated? Is this the global stock market or limited to the US? If this is global data I can see people twist the narrative that the stock market is open 24/7 too.
Anyway, it's not hard to see that in the internet era, the Bitcoin market is always open due to the reasons above. I think it's more interesting if we collect data when the Bitcoin network is down compared to traditional payment services like banks. I bet the result is better to convince people that Bitcoin is the better choice if they're looking for a censorship-resistant payment network. CMIIW.
The information is generally US stock market-based, but of course you're right that with global trading times comes a different view. In the Information Age, the 24/7 availability of Bitcoins sure does make it a standout from traditional markets.
I do agree, as to how that downtime with Bitcoin comparison by the traditional payment services would indeed provide some interesting insights, especially towards those who consider anti-sharing. It really shows how it is a readily available and reliable source of payment. Stories about this continue to evolve. And I'm curious to see how these comparisons will affect people's perceptions in the future.
