The pitch? Real-world quantum computing. They’re talking about cracking problems that would take current supercomputers millennia. MILLENNIA! Sounds great, right? Except somebody needs to explain how they’re going to do it without burning through a fortune and diluting shareholders into oblivion. The numbers are…fluid. Let’s just say they require a healthy dose of faith. And a strong stomach.
It is a truth often obscured by the clamor of the market that not every ingenious undertaking blossoms into a financial windfall. Indeed, some of the most substantial gains accrue not from revolutionary breakthroughs, but from the steady accumulation of advantage in seemingly ordinary endeavors. This brings us to Robinhood Markets, a company that arrived upon the scene with the intention of democratizing access to the stock market, and whose recent performance has sparked a fervent, if perhaps premature, speculation about its potential to create a new class of wealthy investors.
Stock prices used were the market prices of Jan. 8, 2026. The video was published on Jan. 15, 2026.
Data referenced reflects market prices as of January 13, 2026. Analysis published January 16, 2026.
Geoff Kendrick, a man who studies these digital currents at Standard Chartered, believes there’s still life in it. He sees a rise, a push upward of as much as 55% this year. Not a guarantee, mind you, but a possibility in a world hungry for possibilities. It’s a gamble, like planting seeds in dry soil, but some seeds are built to survive.
The catalysts, those glittering lures dangled before the hopeful investor, are, upon closer inspection, rather more tarnished than advertised. Dilution risks, a phrase that sounds suspiciously like a medical condition, loom large. The specter of further equity offerings—a polite euphemism for diminishing shareholder value—hovers like a particularly persistent moth. One wonders if the current share price adequately reflects this… atmospheric pressure. Will this hydrogen stock rebound with the vivacity of a startled trout, or will it continue its descent into the murky depths, dragging shareholder portfolios along with it? The question, as always, is less about the hydrogen itself and more about the alchemy of belief.
The Americans, of course, believe they can fix things. President Trump, with his characteristic…directness, speaks of revitalizing the oil infrastructure. A benevolent hand, offering salvation? Perhaps. Or merely another player in this grand, tragic drama, seeking to exploit the wreckage for their own gain. The promise of a ‘safe transition’… a soothing phrase, yet one that rings hollow to those who have witnessed the cyclical nature of hope and despair in this forsaken land. It is a fool’s errand to believe in simple solutions when dealing with the complexities of human greed and the weight of history.
A decline in valuation, then, may stem from one of three equally unsettling possibilities. The industry itself may be viewed with a justifiable skepticism, a suspicion that the promised revolution is merely a rearrangement of existing inefficiencies. The company in question – in this instance, Rigetti Computing – may be failing to navigate the labyrinthine path towards viable technology, perpetually lagging behind an invisible, ever-shifting standard. Or, most disturbingly, the market may simply be exercising its prerogative to lose patience, to withdraw funding from a project whose returns are perpetually deferred, a process as arbitrary and incomprehensible as the assignment of serial numbers in a vast, uncaring administration.
So, the halving. For those of you who came to Bitcoin late, it’s this event that happens roughly every four years where the reward for mining new Bitcoins gets cut in half. It’s basically a supply shock, designed to make everyone feel like there’s less to go around. Which, let’s be real, is a pretty effective marketing tactic. Historically, these halvings have been followed by price spikes. It’s like clockwork, which, in the crypto world, is frankly terrifying. We’ve had them in 2012, 2016, 2020, and just last year, 2024. The next one is slated for 2028, and the smart money (and by “smart,” I mean “people who are willing to gamble”) is expecting another run-up. The last halving saw Bitcoin jump from around $64,000 to over $100,000 by year-end, and eventually hit $126,000. So, yeah, the math is tempting.
Recent data from the Federal Reserve reveals a figure that should give pause: $7.8 trillion parked in money market funds. This is not merely a large number; it is a symptom. It suggests a growing reluctance to participate in the risks of the market, a preference for safety even at the expense of potential reward. It is, in essence, a vote of no confidence, however subtle.