Sunday Summary, DEC21
A week in review from the Editor
Scrolling through your social feed
on a quiet December evening, only to find the usual chorus of Bitcoin doomsayers amplified once more (where have they been these past few years?).
Prices have dipped and the headlines scream of outflows, liquidations, and fading momentum. Friends who were evangelizing Bitcoin at holiday gatherings last year now joke about “getting rekt,” while newcomers lament their timing.
It’s a familiar scene; it feels almost scripted in Bitcoin’s sixteen-year saga.
When the tide recedes, the fair-weather crowd heads for the exits, leaving the beach eerily quiet. The newcomers, drawn by quick riches, weep over their dashed dreams, packing up their expectations and heading home to find some new dopamine rush.
But every cycle (if we can still talk about those), without fail, a cohort remains.
They don’t flee.
They roll up their sleeves and get back to the fundamentals.
After the 2013 four-figure peak, a brutal bear market dragged prices below $200 by 2015. The game was so over, and many publicly posted their departures, yet a few quiet innovators, bit by the freedom technology bug remained. In 2018, when Bitcoin plunged from $20,000 to $3,200 amid regulatory fears and exchange hacks. The noise was deafening. Declarations of Bitcoin’s death and the ensuing grave dancing reached record highs, but in the shadows, developers refined the code, institutions quietly grew, and a new wave of custody tools emerged. Even the 2022 crash, post-$69,000 euphoria, saw ETF approvals ramp up and corporate treasuries begin accumulating.
These “quiet seasons” strip away the facade, revealing Bitcoin’s useful core: a tool for financial sovereignty, resistant to censorship and inflation.
The freedom-focused remnant of the hype cycle study the protocol, run nodes, contribute code, or simply educate others without expectation of immediate reward.
Real relationships emerge organically.
At late-night discussions or small meetups, not crowded conference halls chasing pumps. Real learning flourishes, unhurried by FOMO.
What emerges from these is the nucleus of the next 4 years (or year, or decade, pick your time frame). Bitcoin grows ever more antifragile, stronger from stress. Today’s dip, macro headwinds, and cooled enthusiasm, are just another season of the protocol.
But for those who have uncovered its deeper function, empowering individuals over institutions, these seasons are the most invigorating. They remind us that true progress is that quiet, daily build towards ‘overnight success’.
Now comes the real exciting season in Bitcoin.