Analyst: Bitcoin is no longer a "tulip bubble" asset; its resilience since 2017 and multiple cycles prove its uniqueness

BlockBeats news, December 7 — Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas stated that despite Bitcoin’s recent sharp pullback, it is inappropriate to compare it to the 17th-century “tulip mania.” He pointed out that the tulip mania lasted only about three years and was completely eliminated after a single crash, whereas Bitcoin has survived for 17 years, repeatedly reaching new all-time highs after 6–7 rounds of steep declines. Bitcoin has still risen about 250% over the past three years, with a 122% gain just last year. The current decline is more like “giving back last year’s excessive gains”; even if it remains flat or dips slightly throughout 2025, its long-term average annualized return would still be around 50%. Eric emphasized that the only similarity between Bitcoin and tulips is that they are “non-productive assets,” but gold, Picasso paintings, and rare stamps are also non-productive and have long been considered valuable assets. The tulip bubble was a typical “one-time mania and crash” event, while Bitcoin is clearly a completely different asset class.