Stop Cheering. Your All-Time High is Fake.
Let's get something straight right off the bat: If you’re celebrating a new Bitcoin all-time high (ATH) based on a dollar price, you’re looking at the wrong ledger. You’re celebrating mediocrity powered by government debt and Fed funny money.
We blew past $73,000. Big deal. That number means nothing. It’s a phantom gain. The reason your brain keeps screaming that the current all-time high feels like a wet fart is because, in terms of real purchasing power, it pretty much is.
Alex Thorn at Galaxy said the quiet part out loud: Bitcoin still hasn't hit $100,000 when adjusted for inflation: Galaxy's Alex Thorn delivered the receipts.
And he’s absolutely correct. We haven’t done jack yet.
The Melting Money Problem
Remember that $69,000 we hit back in 2021? That was peak euphoria. That $69,000 could buy you a hell of a lot more truck, steak, or rent than $73,000 can today. That’s the inflation tax hitting you like a ton of bricks made of fiat currency.
Inflation isn't some complex economic theory you need a Harvard degree to understand. It’s simple: the dollar is melting. Every time the government prints a quadrillion bucks to fund a new war or a new social program, your piece of the pie gets smaller. BTC is just the only asset that hasn't totally caved to the heat.
- In 2021, the dollar was already weak, but not THIS weak.
- Since 2020, the CPI (Consumer Price Index, which is probably rigged low anyway) has shredded buying power.
- To match the value of the 2021 ATH ($69k), Bitcoin needs to be somewhere near $85,000 or higher today. And that’s just to break even on the old high.
We need six figures just to feel like we did three years ago. That's the brutal math nobody wants to talk about during the ETF hype cycle.
The Real Target: $150k Is the New $100k
Forget the arbitrary psychological barrier of $100,000. That’s the rookie goal. It’s obsolete before we even get there, thanks to the dollar printer going brrrr.
Alex Thorn is focused on history, and history shows that we are currently overleveraged and underpriced. The narrative that we are 'discovering price' is bullshit. We are simply trying to keep up with the devaluation of the yardstick we measure it with.
If you genuinely want that 2017 cycle feeling—that feeling that you could actually quit your job and live off the gains—you need to recalibrate your expectations based on reality. The truth is, Bitcoin still hasn't hit $100,000 when adjusted for inflation: Galaxy's Alex Thorn pointed out this obvious, painful truth.
The next psychological barrier shouldn't be $100k. It should be $150k. That’s the minimum required just to signal that the purchasing power of your satoshis is actually outpacing the US Treasury’s complete incompetence. Until then, wipe that smug look off your face. You're still poor.