496: The Gold Bug Who Got Infected by Bitcoin

I really hope you listened to last week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast. If you did, it may have convinced you to get some exposure to bitcoin in your portfolio.

And if you did that last week, all I have to say is…WELCOME TO CRYPTO!

As of this writing, bitcoin is trading at approximately $84,000, a decline of over 20% from its recent high of nearly $107,000. 

If you’re not used to this kind of volatility, get used to it. And, I might also make the suggestion that you embrace it! Why?

Well, lets take a brief look at some bitcoin history:

• 2013 Cycle: This is ancient history of course. But Bitcoin reached around $260 in early 2013 before falling to nearly $70 by mid-year—a decline of about 73%. Over the next seven months, the price recovered to approximately $1,200 by November 2013.
• 2017 Record-Breaking Year: I had the pleasure of being part of this one having entered the bitcoin world in 2016 myself. Bitcoin started 2017 at roughly $1,000. Early in the year, it experienced a correction, falling approximately 34% to around $660. However, by December 2017, Bitcoin had risen to nearly $20,000—an increase of nearly 20 times within one year.
• 2020 Cycle with Institutional Interest: Prior to the May 2020 halving, Bitcoin traded at about $10,000 before a 20% retracement brought it to around $8,000. The recovery following this dip was notable to say the least, with the price reaching roughly $64,000 by April 2021.

The point I am making, of course, is that bitcoin has historically experienced significant corrections which have often led to rapid recoveries within defined periods.

It is not insignificant that there are some big buyers out there in 2025. The current dip coincides with increased interest from institutional investors:

• Financial Institutions: Banks and financial services firms are increasingly offering Bitcoin-related products.
• Corporate Adoption: More companies are adding Bitcoin to their treasuries as a hedge against inflation.
• Spot Bitcoin ETFs: The approval and launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. have attracted additional institutional capital.

This increased involvement has shifted the perception of Bitcoin from a speculative asset to one that is integrated into diversified portfolios. Even in 2017, a lot of smart people truly thought that bitcoin would crumble to nothing. 

But now we even have government entities exploring bitcoin’s role as a reserve asset. Countries such as El Salvador have adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, and others such as the United States are evaluating its potential as a reserve asset.

Some U.S. states are considering legislation to allocate up to 10% of public funds to digital assets.

The point I’m making here is that bitcoin is not going to zero. In fact, the finite amount of bitcoin along with all the new buyers can mean only one thing over the next few years: bitcoin is going up in value.

What I am trying to say here is that you may seriously want to consider buying the dip. This is, of course, not financial advice. You can speak with your wealth advisor who knows nothing about bitcoin to do that lol!

Oh, and by the way, Solana got slaughtered too. And so you might look into that one as well since its better then ethereum in virtually every way but has a fraction of the current market capitalization.

If you are getting sick of all this crypto talk, I apologize. In fact, this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast was supposed to be about gold and silver. But it turned out even the gold bug I interviewed had gotten infected by bitcoin and the conversation moved in that direction pretty quickly!