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Here is the Michael Saylor interview (mentioned in the article):

https://youtu.be/Cg10yYZjK94?t=1h10m0s

This is the CEO of MicroStrategy who mainstreamed Bitcoin investment, saying stuff like:

  "Bitcoin is a swarm of cyber hornets serving the goddess of wisdom, feeding on the fire of truth, exponentially growing ever smarter, faster, and stronger behind a wall of encrypted energy”

Background from Wikipedia:

  On MicroStrategy's quarterly earnings conference call in July 2020, Saylor announced his intention for MicroStrategy to explore purchasing Bitcoin, gold, or other alternative assets instead of holding cash. The following month, MicroStrategy used $250 million from its cash stockpile to purchase 21,454 Bitcoin.

  MicroStrategy later added $175 million of Bitcoin to its holdings in September 2020 and another $50 million in early December 2020. On December 11, 2020, MicroStrategy announced that it had sold $650 million in convertible senior notes, taking on debt to increase its Bitcoin holdings to over $1 billion worth. On December 21, 2020 MicroStrategy announced their total holdings include 70,470 bitcoins purchased for $1.125 billion at an average price of $15,964 per bitcoin. Saylor, who controls 70% of MicroStrategy's shares, dismissed concerns by observers that the move is turning MicroStrategy into a Bitcoin investment firm or exchange-traded fund (ETF).

I'm not a Bitcoin promoter. But the system is very interesting

You can observe an explosion in Bitcoin activity today, with unusual characteristics (especially the use of outputs from transactions being used as inputs to new transactions without much confirmation depth on the chain)

To understand Bitcoin intuitively, watch a real-time animated visualization of the global Bitcoin transaction flow, as it is happening right now. This shows how Bitcoin is being used, in real-time:

https://dailyblockchain.github.io/

Each square is a bitcoin address (similar to a cryptographic public key)

Each graph component is a transaction. The components appear as transactions are broadcast into the bitcoin P2P network (but before they are verified and committed to the blockchain)

Each transaction simply transfers bitcoin: from one or more input addresses, to one or more output addresses. In other words, money flows from one or more previous owners, to one or more new owners. That's how a currency works

Coin ownership flows from green to red (yellow is in/out: I pay you and take some change back at the same address). A Bitcoin owner typically controls many addresses. For example, a new address is normally created to receive change (meaning yellow squares should be rare)

When the output of one transaction becomes an input for a new transaction, the components are pulled together

Speaking of prominent institutional investors, watch Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, and ask yourself whether this is a man fit to protect his company's shareholders:

https://youtu.be/Cg10yYZjK94?t=1h26m40s

  "Bitcoin is a swarm of cyber hornets serving the goddess of wisdom, feeding on the fire of truth, exponentially growing ever smarter, faster, and stronger behind a wall of encrypted energy”

Another remarkable clip from earlier in the same Michael Saylor interview:

https://youtu.be/Cg10yYZjK94?t=1h10m

This is the guy who mainstreamed Bitcoin investment, and he seems confused and delusional. He doesn't understand the technology and talks about it in mystical terms with wide eyes

Background from Wikipedia:

  On MicroStrategy's quarterly earnings conference call in July 2020, Saylor announced his intention for MicroStrategy to explore purchasing Bitcoin, gold, or other alternative assets instead of holding cash. The following month, MicroStrategy used $250 million from its cash stockpile to purchase 21,454 Bitcoin.

  MicroStrategy later added $175 million of Bitcoin to its holdings in September 2020 and another $50 million in early December 2020. On December 11, 2020, MicroStrategy announced that it had sold $650 million in convertible senior notes, taking on debt to increase its Bitcoin holdings to over $1 billion worth. On December 21, 2020 MicroStrategy announced their total holdings include 70,470 bitcoins purchased for $1.125 billion at an average price of $15,964 per bitcoin. Saylor, who controls 70% of MicroStrategy's shares, dismissed concerns by observers that the move is turning MicroStrategy into a Bitcoin investment firm or exchange-traded fund (ETF).

I am NOT a fan of Bitcoin, but...

Watch a real-time visualization of the global Bitcoin transaction flow, as it is happening right now:

https://dailyblockchain.github.io/

Each square is a bitcoin address (like a cryptographic public key)

Each graph component is a transaction. The components appear as transactions are broadcast into the bitcoin P2P network (but before they are verified and committed to the blockchain)

Each transaction simply transfers bitcoin: from one or more input addresses, to one or more output addresses. In other words, money flows from one or more previous owners, to one or more new owners. That's how a currency works

Coin ownership flows from green to red (yellow is in/out: I pay you and take some change back at the same address)

When the output of one transaction becomes an input for a new transaction, the components are pulled together

This illustrates how Bitcoin is used. What do you notice?

Each square is a bitcoin address (like a public key)

Each graph component is a transaction. The components appear as transactions are broadcast into the bitcoin P2P network (but before they are verified and committed to the blockchain)

Coin ownership flows from green to red (yellow is in/out: I pay you and take some change back)

When the output of one transaction becomes an input for a new transaction, the components are pulled together

This gives you a sense of how money is changing hands in the global bitcoin economy