The crypto-space has been compared to tulip mania in bull markets and in bear. The tulip craze was one of history's first and most notable bubbles that have ever occured but can we really compare Bitcoin to a flower? Maybe we should be comparing the digital currency to the history of the lobster instead. Let’s look back at history to see if we can predict the future.
Tulip bulbs and seed were brought over to Vienna from Turkey in 1554. They were grown by skilled botanists and were shared with other well educated fanatics but were not brought into the spotlight until about 1593 when the Netherlands, what was then called the United Provinces, began to cultivate tulips at the University of Leiden. They found that the flowers would successfully grow in many conditions and then spread the word. This is where popularity began to grow.
The tulip was a rather unique spectacle for that region and completely out of the ordinary for the locals. The tulip’s viberant pedals were like no other flower or plant in the region. Possession of such a flower was seen as a status symbol. Only those with great wealth would be able to obtain the most unique and desirable bulbs and flowers. They would put them on display and use mirrors in their gardens to make it seem they had many more than they actually did. The flowers were a power move by the rich.
At this time it was the “rare” tulips that would get a large bid but in 1636 every and any bulb would be sought after. The lower class wanted in on the tulip game and would take anything they could get. At this time the Dutch created a formal futures market buying and selling contracts that held the rights to the bulbs that would be grown at the end of the season. Tulip prices skyrocketed due to speculation in the tulip futures. Then in 1637 those contracts along with the bulbs and tulip flowers were worth as much as the dirt the tulips grew in.
Tulips started in the hands of the wealthy and stayed in the hands of the upper class until the lower class became interested leading the rich to be disinterested because it would no longer be a symbol of their superior status.
Ordering lobster is now seen as a way to impress a date or to indulge in some of the finest cuisine there is to offer but it wasn’t always this way. Lobster was, for a long time, seen as a poor man’s food. When the first Europeans settlers came over to New England there were lobsters stacked knee high on the beaches. Those that settled in what is now Maine and Massachusetts were embarrassed by the cockroaches of the sea. At that time Native Americans and the new settlers would use the lobster as fertilizer for their crops and for bait when fishing. Lobster was only ever eaten out of desperation and was a stable part of the diet of slaves, prisoners, and lower level apprentices.
Then lobster became mainstream. In the 1880’s lobster was mass cooked, canned, and shipped using the railway system. For many people that were not from the northeastern states this was their first exposure to lobster. Canned lobster became the most popular canned product on the market. With the advancement of the railway long distance travel became accessible to the general public. People would go to the the northeast specifically to eat fresh lobster rather than the canned meat they became so fond of. As demand grew the supply dwindles leading to the price to rise to the point we are now where fresh lobster is a rather expensive delicacy.
Lobster started in the mouths of the poor until the poor couldn't afford to eat the lobster any more.
I will let you decide which story relates more closely to what we are seeing when it comes to cryptocurrency.