{"id":18046,"date":"2020-12-28T16:40:07","date_gmt":"2020-12-28T16:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ci027cfe65801726c3"},"modified":"2025-10-02T15:10:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T20:10:40","slug":"reader-survey-bitcoins-2020-and-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/culture\/reader-survey-bitcoins-2020-and-2021","title":{"rendered":"Reader Survey: Bitcoin\u2019s 2020 And 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In case you hadn\u2019t noticed, 2020 was a bit wild. And many of the unprecedented events of the year directly impacted Bitcoin and its value proposition.<\/p>\n

A pandemic-driven wave of economic stimuli highlighted the need for a truly incorruptible store of value, potentially motivating institutional adoption of BTC<\/a>. A growing authoritarian political climate<\/a> alerted many to the need for pseudonymous and independent money. And the Bitcoin community itself grew stronger, with a range of companies and projects<\/a> developing new and improved services to leverage the technology.<\/p>\n

A sustained bull run and the repeated eclipsing of all-time price highs has made it clear that 2020 was a big year for Bitcoin, and that this momentum will carry us well into 2021. But we wanted to get a clearer sense of what our readers are thinking as this wild year ends and a new unknown begins. So we teamed up with sats-reward platform Carrot and commissioned a \u201c2020 End Of Year Survey.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 200 participants submitted responses and below are a few of the most interesting results from the field, as well as thoughtful commentary from some of the spaces most active and influential participants.<\/p>\n

In A Year Of Crisis, Bitcoin Emerged<\/h2>\n

For many of us, 2020 has been defined by the emergence and spread of COVID-19, which motivated government lockdowns, mandated social distancing and subsequent economic stimulus. Our survey made clear that many Bitcoiners see this as the primary driver of Bitcoin\u2019s surge across the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmidst the uncertainty of the world due to the pandemic, Bitcoin was looked upon as the savior,\u201d wrote one respondent. \u201cPeople want certainty. With fiat money being printed for fun, it allowed people to ask the right questions and realize that cash is trash.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no doubt that Bitcoin has had a good year,\u201d wrote another. \u201cThe pandemic has given the perfect lane for Bitcoin to spread, which has allowed us to see how people quickly become familiar and become part of the network. What I think it does to keep this going is to attract as many people as possible and gradually put the pieces of the next release rocket in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

More specifically, respondents seemed to feel that the crisis that defined 2020 was one that articulated the value propositions of Bitcoin \u2014 the global catastrophe that bore out some of the properties of BTC that they had been arguing in theory for so long.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the fiat shitcoins have inflated their global monetary base by 75-plus percent, Bitcoin is still on a steady path toward 21 million,\u201d wrote Wasabi Wallet\u2019s Max Hillebrand. \u201cWhere international travel has been hampered to a bare minimum, Bitcoin continues to ignore imaginary boundaries of government jurisdiction. In these challenging times, where sovereign individuals are under heavy attack, Bitcoin has proved itself again as the most reliable weapon of defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bitcoin\u2019s Biggest Surprises Of 2020<\/h2>\n

Perhaps motivated by the value propositions noted above, Bitcoin\u2019s 2020 was marked by corporations diverting their treasury asset into BTC, with software intelligence firm MicroStrategy buying more than 70,000 BTC<\/a>, for instance.<\/p>\n

For many of our survey respondents, this wave of adoption (and not Bitcoin\u2019s resilience in the face of a global pandemic) was the biggest surprise of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is very difficult to answer, but I think it would be the amount of institutions that are joining and how quickly many are changing their minds,\u201d wrote one participant in response to our question about the biggest surprise for Bitcoin in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe interest of large companies and financial institutions, e.g., MicroStrategy, Fidelity, Visa, Square, JPMorgan, MassMutual, etc.,\u201d answered another.<\/p>\n

Specifically, many respondents highlighted MicroStrategy\u2019s actions as the biggest surprise of the year, and one that has likely paved the way for similar moves this year and into the next.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say MicroStrategy\u2019s bitcoin buys for their corporate treasury,\u201d answered Stephen Cole, an influential Bitcoiner and investor. \u201cThat\u2019s a strong signal to CFOs and the world more broadly that Bitcoin needs to be taken seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many Bitcoiners responding to this survey mentioned MicroStrategy\u2019s CEO Michael Saylor by name as they reflected on 2020, noting that his BTC purchases and bullish sentiments shared with the space this year buoyed Bitcoin at large.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe numerous bitcoin purchases made by MicroStrategy is the greatest 2020 development for the space,\u201d wrote Deniz Saat, a writer and founder of Bitcoinivy<\/a>. \u201cMichael Saylor and his team are taking full advantage of low interest rates by issuing corporate bonds to acquire an additional $650 million worth of bitcoin. All of the plebs are jelly, but wish him the best. With his success comes ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other biggest surprise of the year among Bitcoiners seemed to be the price surge, as demonstrated by this collection of anonymous responses:<\/p>\n