Despite the success and mainstream popularity that the cryptocurrency sector and the flagship decentralized finance (DeFi) asset have achieved so far, notable critics have continued to declare Bitcoin (BTC) worthless, including four times in 2023.

Indeed, these critics, which include individuals with a significant following or sites with substantial traffic, have declared Bitcoin ‘dead’ 471 times so far, according to the data retrieved by Finbold from cryptocurrency information platform 99bitcoins on February 1.

According to the website, this platform accepts submissions of so-called ‘Bitcoin obituaries,’ which are pieces of content from prominent critics that explicitly state that Bitcoin is or will be worthless, excluding statements that involve ‘maybe’ and ‘could.’ 

Eulogies stack despite progress

Over the past month alone, Bitcoin has been pronounced dead four times by the naysayers, despite growing 40%. The latest such statement comes from an article by Cincinnati Enquirer’s Robert Park, who declared crypto ‘the greatest Ponzi of all time’ on January 29, as the price of BTC stood at $23,775.

As he wrote:

“Crypto is a Ponzi scheme. It’s the IT version of what Bernie Madoff did in a mutual fund fraud in New York City in the 1980s and ‘90s, which was the greatest Ponzi scheme of all time − until now.”

Other eulogies include ‘Bitcoin is a hyped-up fraud’ by JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon on January 19, ‘Bitcoin will go negative’ by geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan during The Joe Rogan Experience podcast on January 7. On January 6, TV personality Jim Cramer and former attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) John Reed Stark stated that ‘Crypto is one big hussle.’

Interestingly, Bitcoin was also declared dead at the height of its success on November 8, 2021, when it was changing hands at $67,567. At the time, The Spectator’s Sam Leith wrote an article called ‘The Bitcoin delusion,’ in which he compared Bitcoin to a ticking time bomb:

“In the absence of its use as a currency, though, the only thing supporting the value of crypto is the expectation that there’s always going to be someone else who’ll pay to take it off your hands. You’re betting, essentially, on being the last person holding the bomb before it goes off.”

Bitcoin price analysis

Meanwhile, Bitcoin has made significant progress since the year’s end, as optimism in the market was restored with the new year. In fact, it has raced 39.15% over the previous 30 days, at press time trading at the price of $23,121 – a strong advance despite increasing only 2.26% across the week and losing 0.04% in the last 24 hours.

At the same time, senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone has predicted Bitcoin to reach $100,000 by 2025, a bullish attitude shared by crypto experts at TradingShot, who suggested that its price could soar to $150,000 in a similar time frame.