A response to the crypto FUD

A response to several popular FUD posts I've seen the last few days. No this is not another mindless AI post. No AI was used or harmed in the making of this post.

I can't tell if someone is trying to shake out retail or if a few of you here are just that good of people who are genuinely concerned with your fellow degenerates possibly riding this bear market deeper than they expected when POTUS finishes wrecking the global economy with his war on oil, Iran, ethics, morality, and decency. I don't know, something about the FUD feels very disingenuous. Even one of the Bankless podcast guys said he sold his Ethereum last week - all of it? I assume he still sold at a profit but still....odd thing to announce. Odd thing to announce, from him especially. Long story short the FUD feels manufactured albeit not completely baseless given the market at this moment in time. But how short are our memories of the progress?

So what's the verdict then? Everyone should just sell all their crypto and leave and go where? AI stocks are grossly inflated already. Grossly. Like, only thing holding up the S&P. S&P is in a massive bubble. Real estate is inflated and has record numbers of sellers outnumbering buyers (yet prices don't come down). So, what's the play? Hope it ain't SpaceX. So what then? Sell all your crypto in a bear market and sit on 100% cash - see if you can be a mini Berkshire and wait for the full on crash that may never come. The crash Michael Burry has been predicting for years. The crash that may not come as deeply as you think, or will hit so hard and recover so fast (remember Berkshire has those buy limits set) you'll miss the dip entirely. Or, do you stay exposed in crypto and await the waive of growth that you believed would come back when you first started buying?

I disagree that cryoto as an industry had its run and is essentially done. Reading popular FUD posts lately you wouldn't think it's anything but dead though. I personally still think it's just getting started. Are the rate of returns diminishing over time - sure, if we are talking Bitcoin, but that's natural with any asset over time. And yeah, Ethereum has been stagnant last five years with a weak peak this last bull run. Alt season didn't happen, or hasn't happened. But is explosive and maintainable growth still possible ? I think yes.

By mid-2024, fewer than 1% of 401(k) plans offered crypto exposure. In other words most plans still don’t include crypto ETFs even though they’re now legal to hold in retirement accounts. The same is true of pension plans. Plan administrators have fiduciary duties and they don't want to get accused of violating them by including something new, lacking significant history, whose price can fluctuate significantly. Of 401k plans that exist they are still very limited with a Bitcoin Spot ETF first approved in January 2024 and an Ethereum ETF shortly after. In recent years more and more major financial advisors began offering crypto assets including Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, BlackRock, Schwab, Robinhood, Fidelity, and even to Van Guard who said it would never do it. This list will grow with regularity clarity and the degree to which these institutional activity promote it to their customers will grow too.

Major financial advisors seeking crytpo ETFs aside, major trad-fi players like Black Rock also already build on blockchains like Ethereum. It built its tokenized money market fund BUIDL on it in March of 2024. Other chains may find demand for their block space that doesn't yet exist as global financial markets go on-chain and more institutions BUIDL products on-chain. If more institutions build on public block chains like Ethereum, Cardano, Hedera, Solana, Algorand, etc., then demand for their corresponding tokens will rise too as the fees to pay for the transactions have to be paid in those tokens.

I only reference these names as specific examples because in March of 2026, the SEC and CFTC issued guidance naming these specific cryptocurrencies (16 in total) as non-security "digital commodities" subject to CFTC oversight. A guidance paper issued by the SEC and CFTC in and of itself is another important piece of regularly clarity and legitimization, despite not having the weight of law.

More important than this ETF stuff and SEC guidance papers is legislation. The GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act) was signed into law in July 2025. It established the first comprehensive regulatory framework for payment stablecoins in the United States.

The CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025) is now pending, and being flushed out in Congress as we speak. It is bipartisan legislation designed to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry in the United States. Together, GENIUS and CLARITY will help usher in a new era of digital finance.

Let's not forget we also have a very pro crypto President in the U.S., even if he also used it to rug-pull you all with his Trump coin right after his election. He may be a war monger, inflating away the dollar, stomping on due process and immigrants in the U.S., but that aside, he is advancing these crypto related laws, ushering in the future of digital finance. It may be the only thing he's doing well. He also signed an Executive Order in March of 2025 to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile. Again, not unwise given it's merely being created through asset forfeiture, not purchase with taxpayer funds. In July of 2024 Germany for instance sold off its Bitcoin reserves form asset forfeitures - $3 billion worth of holdings - at $62,000 per coin. This is below even today's bear market low and 3-4 years from now will look especially foolish.

I see lots to be optimistic about. I'm not any more scared for crypto in the short term (1-3 years) than I am for the stock market or economy as a whole. War, civil unrest, inflation, and global economic recession is a risk to everything. But I think leaving crypto entirely is leaving a lot on the table. It is the only new asset class in existence and it has the most room to grow by virtue of being the youngest. It doesn't feel new to many of you/us because it's been so violently chaotic at times - especially since 2021 - but that's just mental fatigue talking, not reason. Run away if you want but I'm riding this train into the 2030s.

Reminder of other progress since 2021:

-In June of 2021 El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.

-In November of 2021 the US congress passed an infrastructure bill that included for the first time ever provisions addressing crypto currency, taxes, and reporting requirements. While controversial, Congress has continued to discuss legislation, and passed the GENIUS act in 2025 and is working on the CLARITY act now.

-In September of 2022 the White House released the first-ever comprehensive framework for the responsible development of digital assets, ushering in a new level of US acknowledgement of the perceived risks and benefits of crypto.

-In mid 2021 Visa first announced it would begin settling transactions with USDC stable coin. Speaking at the StarkWare Sessions 2023 conference in Tel Aviv, the head of Visa’s crypto operations said the company has “been testing how to accept settlement payments from issuers in USDC starting on Ethereum.

- In August 2022 Blackrock, the world's largest asset manager with $8 trillion in assets under management, partnered with Coinbase to give institutional clients access to Bitcoin. In December of 2022, the CEO of BlackRock predicted crypto's blockchain technology will usher in "the next generation for markets."

-In June of 2022 Solana announced development of its own smartphone to securely store crypto keys and provide seamless dapp integration.

-In early 2022 Los Angelas's former Staple Center became the Crypto.com arena. In mid 2022 the Home of the 76'ers, the former Wells Fargo Arena was renamed the Bankless Arena.

-In 2022 Polygon partnered with many major companies and is being utilized by Starbucks, Disney, Adidas, Stripe, Meta, and Reddit on a number of NFT and customer loyalty projects. (Yeah I know NFTs gave tanked since then).

- In October of 2022, BNY Mellon, the oldest bank in the United States, became the first bank in the US to launch its digital custody platform, allowing select clients to safeguard their Ether and Bitcoin holdings.

- In November of 2022 Fidelity announced it would offer Bitcoin and Ether trading to institutional clients. Since then it has begun offering Bitcoin and Eth purchase to its 401k retail customers.

-In November of 2022 it was reported that the JP Morgan wallet was now a registered trademark for cryptocurrency transfers and related services. The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted the application on Nov. 15. That same month, JPMorgan completed its first live cross-border transaction on a public blockchain using the Ethereum layer-two network Polygon, and a modified version of the aave protocol—a DeFi technology.

- In November of 2022 it was reported that Google is working with the Solana Network providing node & validator services.

- In January of 2023 Amazon began working with the Avalanche Network to provide cloud solutions for app-chains.

- In March of 2023 Microsoft was reportedly prepping to release a built-in non-custodial wallet for Microsoft Edge. Reportedly it's still working on this, so apparently no rush. We are in a bear market so expect little news from any company on anything crypto related.