Welcome again to the Now E-newsletter. I’m Matt Medved.
Bitcoin simply hit a brand new all-time excessive above $109,000, however the timeline isn’t precisely euphoric. The prevailing temper is FOMO and jokes about nobody caring or being overexposed in altcoins. However that disconnect isn’t simply on crypto Twitter.
Final evening, I caught The Chainsmokers enjoying a secret set at The Edge, a A centesimal-floor skydeck overlooking the New York skyline. As a lot of you already know, I beforehand based Billboard Dance, so the dance music world was house for years earlier than I dove into web3. I’ve recognized Alex Pall and Drew Taggart since their early days enjoying NYC bottle service golf equipment — we got here up collectively throughout their meteoric rise. So anytime we hyperlink, it’s a little bit of a reunion with all of the music trade gamers who have been a part of that period.
“Matt solely goes out when the crypto market is up,” joked TAO Group associate Jonathan Schwartz.
He’s not mistaken. Nightlife’s a surprisingly good barometer for the place mainstream sentiment round crypto is at. On the peak of the NFT growth, everybody needed to know what tasks to purchase. After FTX collapsed, they have been asking if I’d discovered a brand new job. Final evening, crypto barely got here up in any respect. Once I talked about that Bitcoin was approaching all-time highs, most individuals appeared stunned.
It struck me as a result of I’ve lived by means of the cycles, and I’ve by no means seen such a stark disconnect between worth motion and sentiment. Sure, the worth is up, however the cultural quantity remains to be low. Regardless of arguably essentially the most bullish fundamentals crypto has ever seen— a pleasant administration, rising institutional inflows, and rising regulatory readability — the broader public nonetheless isn’t paying consideration. Retail hasn’t really re-entered the sector.
Why? Let’s break it down.
Bitcoin Hit a New All-Time Excessive. Why Doesn’t It Really feel Like It?
For starters, Wall Avenue enthusiasm hasn’t reached Most important Avenue.
In contrast to earlier cycles, the place a frenzy of media consideration drove retail shopping for that helped propel Bitcoin to new heights, the previous 12 months’s rise has been quietly pushed by institutional capital.
A lot of the joy is going on behind closed doorways: on tradfi buying and selling desks, in wealth administration companies, and throughout institutional autos like spot ETFs. However on the floor, issues nonetheless really feel subdued. Costs could also be rising, however the social and cultural indicators of a full-blown bull run stay muted.
“We’re not really in worth discovery but,” advisor and podcast host Aubrey Strobel tells Now Media. “Bitcoin’s all-time excessive doesn’t account for inflation—adjusted for greenback debasement, we’re nonetheless underwater. That’s why you’re not getting calls out of your family and friends but.”
“The actual euphoria gained’t hit till we break above $110K with conviction,” she provides. “It’s been a quiet rally to this point, pushed largely by establishments, sovereign wealth funds, and the rising variety of Bitcoin entry autos being raised behind the scenes. Retail hasn’t arrived but.”
no texts and calls from household & pals greater.
— Aubrey Strobel (@aubreystrobel) Might 21, 2025
Retail’s additionally in a really completely different spot than it was over the past bull run, which performed out in opposition to the backdrop of pandemic lockdowns and stimulus checks. In 2025, most households are coping with rising debt and tighter budgets. U.S. family debt simply hit $18.2 trillion, with over $1.18 trillion on bank cards. The common family is carrying greater than $8,940 in card debt, and with the Fed holding rates of interest elevated, borrowing isn’t getting any cheaper.
It’s not precisely the perfect setup for speculative investing. Again in 2021, retail had money to play with and the boldness to take dangers. Even when individuals are conscious of the rally, most don’t have the identical disposable earnings or threat urge for food.
However are individuals even tuned in? Investor Dan Held doesn’t consider so.
“Bitcoin is priced in for many who are paying consideration, and 99% aren’t paying consideration but,” Held tells Now Media.
“Bitcoin is priced in for many who are paying consideration, and 99% aren’t paying consideration but.”
DAN HELD
A part of that is because of a shift in how crypto is roofed. Mainstream media has matured together with the trade. The area has turn into extra regulated, extra severe, and extra financialized. Spot ETFs, SEC instances, and coverage debates are main the narrative now, not in a single day millionaires or viral JPEGs.
As I wrote in our publication earlier this month, the dearth of a breakout cultural narrative can also be at play right here. Love them or hate them, NFTs introduced creators into crypto and onboarded a wave of latest customers. They gave the area a visible id and a narrative individuals may really interact with past worth motion. Additionally they supplied one thing else: an actual shot at earning money, even for the uninitiated. From flipping PFPs to minting artwork, the entry factors felt accessible in a method that as we speak’s PVP memecoin melee doesn’t.
Memecoins could also be dominating the timeline and absorbing consideration and liquidity inside crypto, however they haven’t crossed the cultural chasm like NFTs did in 2021. And the large moments haven’t been wins for many retail patrons. In response to Chainalysis, round 764,000 of the two million wallets that purchased President Trump’s $TRUMP memecoin misplaced cash — largely small holders. Unsurprisingly, a handful of early wallets captured the vast majority of income
“On the whole, the much less excited individuals are a couple of new all-time excessive, the extra room to go up within the brief time period.”
AMANDA CASSATT
Retail additionally reveals up for various causes, and infrequently sees the area by means of a very completely different lens than crypto purists.
“My hairstylist all the time asks me what I consider XRP,” Amanda Cassatt, founding father of Serotonin, tells Now Media. “She holds it. I by no means purchased it. Primarily based on what she’s motivated by, she was proper. That’s why I don’t give quotes about how retail doesn’t perceive crypto markets. I’m motivated by fully various things from them, like eager to usher thrilling know-how into the world.”
In the end, the muted response may really be bullish.
“I feel euphoria is negatively correlated with short-term upwards movement,” Cassatt provides. “On the whole, the much less excited individuals are a couple of new all-time excessive, the extra room to go up within the brief time period.”
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