Number Go Up Technology
Use rising prices and social proof to recruit the next wave of buyers
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
Number Go Up Technology describes a reflexive speculative loop. An asset rises in price, producing headlines, success stories, and visible winners. That attention attracts new buyers who fear missing out, and their purchases push the price higher, generating another round of publicity and recruitment. Holders reinforce the process by promoting the asset and discouraging selling. The mechanism can operate for years and create real fortunes, but it does not produce an unlimited source of demand. Its critical weakness is saturation: once the market runs short of new participants willing to pay higher prices, the feedback loop slows or reverses. The model is useful for distinguishing adoption driven by practical utility from adoption driven mainly by appreciation itself.
Origin
Extracted from Masters in Business, where Zeke Faux recounts hearing the phrase at the Bitcoin 2021 conference and recognizing it as the central mechanism behind the crypto boom.
Core principles
- 01Price appreciation attracts attention.
- 02Attention converts observers into buyers.
- 03New demand can create further price appreciation.
- 04The loop fails when the supply of new buyers runs out.
- 05Social promotion helps sustain speculative demand.
How to run it
- 1
Identify the Initial Price Move
Find the appreciation event that first generated attention. Determine whether the move reflected new utility, manipulation, restricted liquidity, or speculative demand.
Pro tip Examine trading volume and market structure rather than relying on price alone.
Watch out A rising price is not evidence that an asset has become more useful.
- 2
Map the Attention Loop
Trace how price gains become headlines, social posts, testimonials, and stories about newly wealthy holders. Identify which channels recruit the next buyers.
Pro tip Look for repeated references to friends, celebrities, institutions, or early adopters making money.
Watch out Promotional activity can appear organic even when insiders have strong incentives to manufacture it.
- 3
Separate Utility from Recruitment
Ask what demand would remain if buyers no longer expected appreciation. Test whether people use the asset for a practical purpose independent of resale value.
Pro tip Imagine the price staying flat for five years and ask who would still buy it.
Watch out A promised future use case should not be treated as demonstrated present demand.
- 4
Locate the Saturation Point
Estimate how dependent continued appreciation is on attracting progressively larger groups of buyers. Watch for slowing inflows, leverage, and increasingly aggressive promotion.
Pro tip Track net new participants rather than activity generated by existing traders.
Watch out The loop can reverse rapidly when holders simultaneously seek liquidity.
- 5
Plan for Loop Reversal
Evaluate who bears losses if attention fades and prices fall. Account for illiquidity, leverage, custody risk, and the absence of a buyer at the quoted price.
Pro tip Stress-test exits under falling volume rather than normal market conditions.
Watch out A displayed market price does not guarantee that a large position can be sold near that price.
In the wild
Faux's friend Jay bought Dogecoin because people were discussing it online and he thought the joke would attract more attention. As the price rose, Jay repeatedly shared his gains with friends. Faux became jealous and curious despite believing the asset was pointless, illustrating how visible gains recruit even skeptical observers.
→ Price appreciation and social proof converted a joke asset into a compelling speculative story.
Bitcoin's rising price generated stories about early holders making money. Those stories encouraged more people to buy, producing further gains and additional headlines even though practical usage remained limited.
→ Speculative appreciation became a stronger adoption engine than Bitcoin's original commercial uses.
Common mistakes
Confusing Price Growth with Adoption
A larger market capitalization may reflect speculative inflows rather than increased practical use. Measure actual usage separately from trading activity.
Assuming the Loop Can Continue Forever
The mechanism requires new demand at progressively higher prices. It weakens when recruitment slows or confidence breaks.
Ignoring Manipulated Early Prices
Thin liquidity and wash trading can manufacture the price signals that begin the attention loop.
Is it for you?
Best for
Investors, analysts, and journalists evaluating momentum-driven assets and financial manias.
Not ideal for
Assets whose value can be assessed primarily through stable cash flows or productive use.
From the transcript
“the most important innovation in bitcoin is number go up technology”
“It means when the price goes up, more people will hear about it and they'll want to buy it, and that'll make the price go…”
“The problem with that is at a certain point you run out of people to come in and buy it.”
From the episode
Zeke Faux on Crypto and the Digital Asset Frenzy
Zeke Faux