Bitcoin Black Friday Shuts Forever as Founder Says ‘Mission’ Complete

The creator of one of the best-known Bitcoin (BTC) events has confirmed it will no longer take place as it has fulfilled its “initial mission.”

In a statement on the official website of Bitcoin Black Friday, Jon Holmquist said that he had “fallen out of love” with the idea of using BTC for consumer payments. 

Holmquist: Bitcoin is “investment and new financial instrument”

Bitcoin is an investment vehicle and financial tool, he argued, and simple payments should be left to altcoins such as Bitcoin Cash (BCH). 

“I have decided not to continue running the Bitcoin Black Friday event. After 7 years, and 6 successful events, I have fallen out of love with using bitcoin as a means of consumer payment,” he wrote.

Holmquist continued: 

“Although other alternatives like BCH exist, I think that the fundamental use case of Bitcoin is, and remains, a form of investment and as a new financial instrument.”

“Mission accomplished” for Black Friday

The decision comes as 2019’s would-be Black Friday sees BTC/USD itself trading at what many consider a significant discount. Over the past week, Bitcoin shed 20%, recovering to circle just above $7,100. 

Holmquist’s parting shot meanwhile appeared to deliver a subtle swipe at cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. BCH, he implied, had no long-term investment purpose, and is specifically designed to be spent.

Such a use case, in turn, suggests that assets such as BCH do not have the same hard money qualities as Bitcoin does, which makes them more similar to “easy” money — including fiat currency. 

“The ability to transact with bitcoin is at most a needed function, at worst a tack on benefit. With both my career and my personal views I've drifted away from using bitcoin as a new payment rail,” Holmquist added.

Concluding, he considered the Bitcoin Black Friday event as a whole had run its course:

“I think the initial mission this site had is very much accomplished.”

Bitcoin businesses continue to offer Black Friday discounts of their own. Among them are trading fee discounts from exchange Binance, as well as a 30% discount on hardware wallets from Ledger.