Having Faith: 15 Reflections on Bitcoin and the Crypto Market

Our salvation is: energy, computing, Crypto Assets.

Written by: Meltem Demirors

Compiler: Riley, ChainCacher

It all started here. Everything we discussed ten years ago when we began building the world's first Bitcoin investment company, Blockworks, has now come to fruition. So, why is the Bitcoin price not yet one million dollars?

If we exclude Bitcoin and Ethereum, this is the state of the crypto market over the past five years: the coins may have changed, but the overall data has not. This is a big problem—there has been no growth.

The market in 2024 is mainly supported by two continuous buyers - MicroStrategy and BlackRock, but these buyers are not evangelists, but mercenaries. Buyers of MSTR (MicroStrategy) are arbitraging convertible bonds, while buyers of IBIT (iShares Bitcoin ETF) are arbitraging basis. Together, they hold 6% of the Bitcoin supply. This is our black swan event.

Despite the promises of innovation and the endless promotion of public chains on Twitter, Bitcoin's market dominance is on the rise, rather than on the decline.

There is only one Bitcoin industry, one Bitcoin story, and one Bitcoin market.

Let's take a look at Bitcoin. We have experienced many amazing rebounds driven by narratives and capital flows. But what kind of narrative or capital flow can push us to break through the peak of "the U.S. government considering Bitcoin as a strategic reserve"?

Although decentralized finance (DeFi) shows amazing potential, in terms of revenue, traditional finance (TradFi) is currently at an advantage. It is expected that in the fiscal year 2025, stablecoins and ETFs( exchange-traded funds ) will generate $9.1 billion in revenue for institutions. In comparison, DeFi protocols are expected to generate $9 billion in revenue during the same period, but this figure largely depends on the trading activity of Meme coins.

Institutional investors are pouring in! Yes, they see the opportunity to make money, and they want to get a share. No personal grudges involved—it's just business. For Trump, he came to DAS (Digital Asset Summit) because he can make a big profit. No personal grudges involved—it's just business.

They are mercenaries, not evangelists.

Those discussing the adoption of Crypto Assets by institutional innovators on Twitter and those talking about Meme coins as frontline warriors have more in common than you might think.

We need to stop blind worship and start thinking.

Stop stupid behavior. (By the way, this includes myself too)

Do you know what is the most profound in Crypto Assets?

Proof of Work.

Bitcoin has shown the world how to build a value chain from energy to computing, creating a public equity value of 60 billion dollars.

I have said this many times: Bitcoin has accelerated the development of artificial intelligence by at least a decade. Bitcoin has created a new data center business model that includes post-metering hosting, flexible loads, demand response, and hedging against underlying assets. This is a profound transformation.

I have never expressed this view in public, but it is time to say it: Proof of Stake ( is a misguided decision. Ethereum could have developed into a trillion-dollar protocol with a powerful energy-to-computing ecosystem. However, the reality is that the MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) mechanism has extracted billions of dollars in value from users and applications.

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Ethereum once led the surge of Nvidia )Nvidia(, but now it cannot drive the market up.

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We need to return to basics. Many markets have reached a moment of reckoning, and Crypto Assets are no exception. You cannot defy the laws of physics. But where do we go from here?

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Our redemption is: energy, computing, Crypto Assets.

It's that simple.

The rest of the story is slowly unfolding - this is our job.

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Ten years ago, I believed in Bitcoin and invested all my time and energy. A group of internet crazies made global reserve Crypto Assets a reality through memes. Imagine what else we could do.

Having faith is important.