Bitcoin was launched in 2009. Banks had just collapsed and were being bailed out, interest rates were slashed to zero and quantitative easing expanded the money supply in a gargantuan way.

Some commentators have claimed that bitcoin's success in the last 14 years has been a function of easy money in the same way as Tesla, Facebook stock prices etc benefitted.

This is the chart they like to reference:

![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FrNNQiSXgA8Ifqz?format=png&name=medium)
[source](https://twitter.com/RobinBrooksIIF/status/1635737026820538374/photo/1)

So 2023 is a crucial year for bitcoin, because the fiat regime is changing. Interest rates are the highest since 2007, and quantitative tightening has been happening for six months.

If bitcoin is going to be a permanent thing, it needs to prove it can rise in a 5% interest rate quantitative tightening environment, as well as in a low interest rate quantitative easing environment.