“History Doesn't Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes” – Mark Twain

In 1995...

On August 9, 1995, Silicon Valley startup Netscape Communications made its stunning market debut and effectively illuminated the emergent World Wide Web for millions of people who, until then, were only vaguely familiar with its potential and promise.

Netscape’s initial public offering of shares stimulated the dot.com boom of the late 1990s and enabled what has been called “the technological, social, and financial tone of the Internet age.”

Even more flattering was Brian McCullough, who wrote in his 2018 book, How the Internet Happened:

“There are occasionally events that signal the arrival of a new force in culture (say, the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show) or serve as the demarcation line between historical eras (September 11, 2001, for example). The Netscape IPO was just such a moment in time.”

Netscape was the internet start-up from central casting. It had a poetic, pitch-perfect name, and it exuded panache at a time when it was fine to be a bit brash and expansive about the Web. The company’s IPO was nothing if not brash, signaling as it did that the Web could be a place to make fortunes.

Netscape was the maker of the breakthrough Web browser, Navigator. By summer 1995, Navigator commanded more than 70 percent of the emergent browser market. For millions of people, Navigator was the gateway to the early Web.

2021.....

On April 14th 2021, San Francisco startup Coinbase made its stunning market debut and effectively illuminated the emergent technology Bitcoin for millions of people who, until then, were only vaguely familiar with its potential and promise.

Coinbases's initial public offering of shares stimulated the Bitcoin boom of the 2020's and enabled what has been called “the technological, social, and financial tone of the digital money age.”

Even more flattering was Michael Saylor, who wrote in his 2024 book, How Bitcoin Happened:

“There are occasionally events that signal the arrival of a new force in culture (say, the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show) or serve as the demarcation line between historical eras (September 11, 2001, for example). The Coinbase IPO was just such a moment in time.”

Coinbase was the Bitcoin start-up from central casting. It had a poetic, pitch-perfect name, and it exuded panache at a time when it was fine to be a bit brash and expansive about the digital currency. The company’s IPO was nothing if not brash, signaling as it did that Bitcoin could be a place to make fortunes.

Coinbase was the maker of the breakthrough bitcoin wallet. By spring 2021, Coinbase commanded more than 70 percent of the emergent Bitcoin market. For millions of people, Coinbase was the gateway to the early adoption of Bitcoin.

April 2021 is going to be a very significant month for Bitcoin. We've not made it yet, but are in touching distance. Keep the faith and HODL. The next 12 months are going to be awesome.