Crypto is back and everyone has an unsolicited opinion about it

There’s a very specific feeling that comes with a crypto bull run, and it has nothing to do with charts.

It’s the feeling of your phone buzzing with a message from someone you haven’t heard from since the last time Bitcoin was making headlines. It’s the feeling of sitting at a dinner table where nobody asked for a finance seminar but you’re getting one anyway. It’s the feeling of watching people who swore off the whole thing two years ago suddenly dusting off their Coinbase login.

We have been here before. And somehow, every single time, everyone acts like it’s brand new.

Why does crypto feel like Groundhog Day?

Bitcoin crossed $100,000 in late 2024 and the financial world lost its collective mind — again. The price swings, the breathless coverage, the Reddit threads, the group chats. All of it comes roaring back like it never left.

The thing is, it kind of didn’t leave. People who stayed in it just got very quiet about it for a while. That quiet period is actually the most interesting part of the cycle, because it’s when you find out who actually believes in the technology versus who was just along for the dopamine hit.

Is crypto actually legitimate now, or does it just feel that way?

This is the question everyone is dancing around but nobody wants to answer directly. The short answer: it’s more legitimate than it was in 2017, and less stable than a savings account, and both of those things can be true at the same time.

The approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. earlier in 2024 was a real, structural shift — not hype. BlackRock and Fidelity now offer them, which means institutional money is in the room in a way it wasn’t before. That matters, even if it doesn’t make crypto a sure thing.

But “more legitimate” and “safe” are not the same sentence. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

The people who won’t stop talking about it

There are a few archetypes showing up in everyone’s life right now, and I want to name them so we can all feel seen.

First, there’s the person who held through the crash and is now insufferable about it. They didn’t say a word for two years. Now they have a lot to say. Second, there’s the person who sold at a loss and is oscillating between regret and telling you it’s still a scam. Third — and this one is my personal favorite — there’s the person who is brand new to this and has done approximately forty-five minutes of research and wants to explain blockchain to you.

All three of these people mean well. They are still a lot.

Okay but what about the people who actually lost money?

This is the part that tends to get glossed over when prices go back up. A lot of people got genuinely hurt in the 2022 crash — not “paper loss” hurt, but “I put in money I couldn’t afford to lose” hurt. The FTX collapse wiped out billions in customer funds and real people bore the cost of that.

The bull run doesn’t un-do that. The charts going up doesn’t mean the system is fixed or that the next spectacular failure isn’t already in the pipeline somewhere. Optimism is fine. Amnesia is dangerous.

The strongest argument against my general skepticism here is that every financial market has fraud and failure baked into it somewhere. Enron happened. The 2008 housing crisis happened. The existence of bad actors doesn’t automatically disqualify the asset class — it just means you should go in with your eyes open.

I still think that’s true. I also still think a lot of people go in with their eyes extremely closed.

What’s actually different this cycle vs. the last one?

A few things are genuinely different and worth acknowledging. The infrastructure is better. Wallets are easier to use. Regulation — while still messy — is more of a real conversation than it was. And the mainstream financial institutions being involved means there’s more accountability than the wild west era of 2017.

What isn’t different: the emotional cycle. The FOMO is identical. The “you should have gotten in earlier” energy is identical. The way people treat a rising price as proof of a thesis is identical.

If you want a more grounded read on where things actually stand, the Wall Street Journal’s crypto coverage has been less breathless than most.

So should you buy crypto or not?

I’m a blogger, not a financial advisor, and I genuinely cannot tell you what to do with your money — nor should you want me to. What I can tell you is that “everyone is talking about it right now” has historically been the worst possible time to make a calm, rational decision about anything.

The best financial decisions tend to get made quietly, without a group chat full of opinions running in the background. That’s true for crypto, it’s true for real estate, it’s true for every impulse purchase I’ve ever talked myself into or out of.

Do your own research. Actual research, not YouTube thumbnails with laser eyes. And maybe mute a few people for the next three months. You’ll thank yourself later.

The unsolicited opinion problem

Here’s the thing nobody talks about in all of this: we’ve gotten really bad at holding financial opinions loosely. Either crypto is a revolutionary technology that will remake civilization or it’s a Ponzi scheme for tech bros — and the second you express any nuance, someone is coming for you.

I don’t know, seems like the real answer lives somewhere in the middle, which is a deeply unsatisfying place to be when everyone around you wants a hot take.

But I’ve been writing on this blog since the early days of people telling me my opinions were wrong on the internet, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that the loudest voice in the room is rarely the most informed one. That applies everywhere. It really applies here.

Crypto being back doesn’t mean anything profound about the nature of money or the future of finance or whether the people who held on were right all along. It means prices went up. That’s it.

What’s actually interesting isn’t the price. It’s watching people decide what story they want to tell about it — and then watching them tell it to everyone, whether anyone asked or not.

You don’t have to have an opinion about crypto. You’re allowed to just watch this one from the sideline with a snack and absolutely zero stress about it.

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