But it is one thing to become a millionaire (the word was coined during the Mississippi bubble of the early 18th century) on paper, or in "bits"; it is another

But it is one thing to become a millionaire (the word was coined during the Mississippi bubble of the early 18th century) on paper, or in "bits"; it is another to be able to get into a bubble and out again with your wealth intact. The Mississippi Bubble is an interesting one to invoke here. It was a share bubble fueled by France's overprinting of paper money and habitual currency devaluation. The idea was to create a monopoly that would exploit the vast riches of France's territories in North America. The company never got off the ground, but the shares were sold and began trading anyway. Investors starved for returns flocked to the trading of the shares. So yes, it's entirely possible that the overproduction of money by the world's governments is fueling a speculative bubble in stocks, bonds, Silicon Valley startups, and even digital currencies - not unlike the Mississippi Bubble. Unlike the other inflating assets, however, the supply of bitcoin is rigidly fixed. As world governments produce ever more currency in an attempt to keep the other bubbles inflated, we can expect the bitcoin exchange rate to respond accordingly. It's worth noting that the basic idea behind the Mississippi company was sound. The Mississippi was set to become a hub of world economic activity and valuable almost beyond measure - but not on the time scale of the day's short-sighted investors.