Why is it exponential? Price is based on market liquidity, so all you need is strong hodlers, which it seems like we have.
Discussion
Not really. Hodlers do not matter for the market price, holders are not willing to sell but others are. Whoever is not willing to sell does not set the market price.
Ok, but why does it require exponentially more buying capacity as prices go up? It seems like it would be a linear curve to me.
whoever does not sell, is not an absolute. The hodlers sell sometimes. They just don't do it so often. Those who believe in bitcoin as money are using it that way, also, they just try to replace their sats or increase them when they do sell... Saying that "HODL" is not the same as "too cheap" is silly.
That said hodlers will affect market dynamics if there is a supply versus demand shock.