It's been a good week for bitcoin (BTC), which is up 8%. But you wouldn't think so to read the news. Alight on one of several mainstream media (MSM) outlets and you might have learned that bitcoin is crashing and on its way to zero. Taking cheap shots at bitcoin is great for attracting rage clicks. It's also a great way to look foolish.

Bitcoin has now died 319 times according to Bitcoin Obituaries, but like a B-movie zombie it just won't stay down. To date, no one has succeeded in administering the fatal double tap, and not for lack of trying. Nine years on, bitcoin is stronger and healthier than ever, with a thriving ecosystem of projects under development, from sidechains to custodial and layer two scaling solutions.

Only the brave or the foolish would write off bitcoin in 2018, and yet that's exactly what so-called experts keep doing. "I thought we'd finally get rid of bitcoin," grumbled John Crudele in the New York Post. He's been banging the same drum for four years. "But the fake "currency," which I like to call bitcon, just won't fade away…Even at $6,600, bitcoin is still worth 70 percent less than it was at the beginning of the year." He finished:

I use the term "worth" cautiously because bitcoin is really worth nothing, since it's backed by nothing or no one. It's a confidence game that has value only because people are convincing other people that it's worth something. Got it! Ponzi scheme. Confidence game. Fraud. Anyway, bitcoin is headed for a value of zilch. It's only a matter of when.