The popularization of Bitcoin is no secret. Bitcoin adoption is a mainstream conversation for anyone who has any sort of involvement with Bitcoin - even if they're a naysayer of BTC, they'll still ask "so how do you see this thing getting adopted by normal people?"
The popularization of Bitcoin could also serve as a guide on how to take over the world. At least, from the standpoint of making the world recognize and understand a fundamental idea or set of ideas.
When it comes to BTC, (as with many other things in society) it's all about the narrative. What story are you telling and how does it impact the people who hear it and perpetuate it?
Bitcoin has been making it's way into the mainstream on a much greater scale since ~2016. Before then, it was known by just a few small niche groups of people.
Today, it's known by an extremely wide population -- your average person has heard of Bitcoin - but it's only truly understood by small niche groups of people.
I read this interesting Forbes article which talks about the recent announcement by Goldman Sachs -- they're hosting a call titled "US Economic Outlook & Implications of Current Policies for Inflation, Gold and Bitcoin"
The evolution of Bitcoin in the mainstream opinion is going to be studied for decades to come. In this article, I saw a lot of parallels that can be extrapolated from Goldman to the broader picture of Bitcoin in the minds of individuals up to the corporate and macro level. Now many of these behemoths of the finance industry are putting Bitcoin and Gold in the same category while just a few years/months ago they called BTC an absolute scam.
First, They Refute Will It
"In 2018, Mossavar-Rhamani said that she saw no value in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies." - Forbes
Mossavar-Rhaman is "the head of Strategy Group for the Consumer and Investment Management Division and chief investment officer for Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs" and will co-host the call on the 27th of this month
When it comes to any new technology or disruptive technology, the mainstream (and companies like Goldman) will refute it. They will find any possible flaw in it and string that flaw out for the whole world to see.
They see disruption and their natural instinct is to crush it. Disruption = competition and competition = death for these companies. Their goal is to stay at the top of their "moat" as long as possible and create the tallest possible barriers to entry.
Second, They Become Curious
"The invitation did not reveal any further information on the contents of the call outside of the headline. Per this title, though, the call’s ostensible aim is to discuss how current central bank policy and the risk of monetary inflation could impact assets like Bitcoin and gold." - Forbes
Eventually, the idea/technology turns from disruption into reality. It's now inevitable that the technology/idea is going to be adopted into society and will impact their business.
For Bitcoin, this is now becoming more and more of a reality. They are realizing that it is irresponsible to not have exposure to Bitcoin (to use the words of Pomp).
When their efforts to crush disruption fail, the disruption turns into something that they need to be curious and informed about in order to stay relevant.
"at the very least, it shows that Goldman Sachs is no relegating Bitcoin to the back-burner of their attention." - Forbes
If I could make a guess, I would say that Goldman became curious about crypto in 2017. Their "official" reaction in 2018 was that it had no value because they still didn't see it as a fully formed idea.
They started to research it and found that it was highly disruptive. They amped up their efforts to kill it. Now that those efforts are failing and major figureheads in finance are backing Bitcoin, they can no longer deny it. Hence the last 2 years of research in crypto and the call on the 27th.
Third, Something Shakes Their Core Belief System
"This backdrop, hard money advocates argue, has set the stage for inflation; a climate that scarce assets like bitcoin and gold should thrive in. This argument has gotten the attention of philanthropist and investing luminary Paul Tudor Jones, who revealed some days before Bitcoin’s third halving that he is long Bitcoin futures." - Forbes
Paul Tudor Jones is one of the guys. Imagine the kinds of friends, business partners, clients, etc. that take advice from PTJ as gospel. He recently stated that ~2% of his net worth is in BTC futures.
We're entering this economic status where central banks are running their brrrrr machines in order drive. The money printing is happening at unprecedented levels and even the pillars of the financial system know it.
Their belief of hard money, economics, etc. is being tested. Now they will turn to what was once "disruptive and scary" as a way to hedge against their broken system.
Fourth, They All Fight Over It
"the announcement comes just days after JPMorgan JPM, the largest investment bank in the world, announced it was opening accounts for Bitcoin exchanges—a significant legitimizer for an industry that has struggled to maintain banking relationships over the years." - Forbes
Anyone who's been in crypto for the past 2+ years remembers the day when Jamie Dimon came out against Bitcoin and called it a fraud. I remember the correction that happened and I also remember how he was investigated for buying BTC right after his statements about it being a fraud.
You see, once this technology moves out of the disruption phase and into the adoption phase, these companies can't get enough. They will fight tooth and nail over the untapped real-estate that is a new technological frontier.
You can see this happening with the Facebook Libra's of the world, the central banks investigating digital currency issuance and also in these JMP/Sachs types who are now dumping major money and resources into the crypto industry.
This is why Bitcoin is such a surefire thing in my mind. My family/friends constantly ask how I have so much conviction in Bitcoin -- the reasons I've written here are more than enough. I've seen Bitcoin go from disruptive "drug-dealer" currency to the most talked about "new asset class" in the entire world.