Bitcoin.org Steward Cobra Points to Short-Term Tailwinds for Bitcoin
Cobra, the pseudonymous maintainer of the bitcoin.org domain, has outlined a bleak outlook for bitcoin’s future and the challenges facing the leading cryptocurrency.
Commenting on the current cryptocurrency market, Cobra said bitcoin’s recent price decline had been brutal for bitcoiners, who are demoralized and “barely hanging on,”, as he noted on social media. Bitcoin has officially entered bear market territory, having recently lost nearly 20% of its value over the past 30 days.
Cobra said that, with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), owning bitcoin involved risk and uncertainty, while holders received no reward for taking on those risks. This, he said, disincentivized bitcoin as an investment asset.
Cobra, who has long been concerned about self-custody, said it had become a more contentious issue than ever, as threat actors have extensive resources to exploit security weaknesses in custody systems.
He warned of a continued decline in bitcoin prices in October, saying the coming period would be the “most painful winter” given the current cybersecurity landscape, as AI outpaces crypto defense systems. At the time, he assessed that many people would have their funds drained and lose their BTC.
He also acknowledged that institutional investors such as Stratregy had taken over the market, with their massive stockpiles bringing their own problems, while retail investors were largely out of the market.
Cobra also stressed that Trump’s crypto allegiance would affect regulation, now that Democrats have taken control of the House and the Senate. He said a surge in colossal AI-linked initial public offerings (IPOs) would draw capital away from the crypto market and produce models that could also affect bitcoin in “unpredictable ways” at some point.
“This and other factors like the Iran war and the AI bubble popping triggering a sell off make owning bitcoin extremely risky right now. OGs will be fine but people who got in recently are really in a bad place,” Cobra concluded.
Analysts such as Peter Schiff have recently pointed to bitcoin’s price decline, questioned its viability as a store of value and recommended that crypto investors pivot to gold, even as gold prices reach critical levels.
