Episode 26: Yuto and Bitcoin (BTC)

Six months had flown by since Yuto began his recurring investments.

Month after month, bit by bit,
just like carefully watering Hikappa,
he kept up his recurring investment in the All-Country Equity Index Fund.

In this world,
there truly are all kinds of different "seeds" (financial products).

・Stocks.
・Bonds.
・Gold.
・Mutual funds.

And lately,
dominating the conversations with immense buzz,
was a crypto asset—Bitcoin.

Yuto, too,
could deeply feel the shift in the times, seeing how easily Bitcoin could now be purchased right inside the flea market app he used daily.

Even at his workplace,
he had coworkers who were buying Bitcoin.

It was a trending topic on the news practically every single day.

The U.S. President, Donald Trump,
had expressed plans to deregulate crypto assets like Bitcoin,
announcing a grand vision to "make America the crypto capital of the planet."

This was drawing massive, global attention.

However—.

Bitcoin represents,
the absolute cutting edge of information technology.

Whenever wars or economic sanctions break out,
settlements through traditional banks—
meaning payments and money transfers—can sometimes be completely frozen.

As an alternative solution to those hurdles,
it seemed there were scenarios where Bitcoin was heavily utilized.

It is widely said that Bitcoin was created by
an individual named "Satoshi Nakamoto."

While the name sounds distinctly Japanese,
nobody seems to know if it's a real name,
or if the person even exists at all.

It felt deeply mysterious,
and that mystery, in turn, seemed to magnify
the enigmatic allure surrounding Bitcoin.

Generally, Bitcoin (BTC) is described as
the world's very first decentralized crypto asset, operating entirely without a central authority like a national government or a central bank.

Across the internet,
people can send funds directly to one another,
completely bypassing intermediaries like banks.

On top of that,
its maximum supply is strictly hard-coded at 21 million coins.

Because of this scarcity,
it is frequently explained as "digital gold."

Yet,
to a beginner investor like Yuto,
it all felt overwhelmingly complex.

Staring at his smartphone screen, Yuto sank deep into thought.

His heart wavered.

Every single time he saw a story about its price suddenly skyrocketing,
a wave of impatience washed over him.

Just then—.

Hikappa looked up at Yuto,
wearing a slightly worried,
anxious expression.

"Hey Hikappa, what do you think about Bitcoin?"

Yuto fell silent,
pondering over it for a long while.

Then, he answered quietly to himself.

Hearing those words,
Hikappa seemed to look a little relieved.

Yuto wasn't dismissing Bitcoin out of hand.

Instead,
he simply chose not to let impatience drive him into taking a leap
into something he didn't fully comprehend.

Yuto opened his standard, familiar recurring investment screen.

Nodding ever so slightly,
Hikappa pulsed with its gentle, quiet light again today.