Does the Bitcoin rally mean we haven’t wasted our lives in crypto?

Sentiment in crypto has dived lower than a snailfish in the Mariana Trench in recent months.

Miners are capitulating to AI, cold wallets are getting exploited, and you can hardly fire up LinkedIn without reading another message from a newly unemployed crypto journalist searching for new opportunities. Even for an industry that’s endured nation-state bans, exchange blowups, and years of regulatory pressure, morale has rarely felt this low.

With business models failing and public interest dropping, many long term crypto fans have begun to question whether we’ve all wasted a decade of our lives on a pipe dream.

Source: Ash Crypto

Until the price went up that is.

Bitcoin has just seen its best August in years with a 26% return, while Ethereum gained 34%. President Trump even sang the praises of a decentralized offshore perpetual futures venue at the White House. Crypto’s finally getting interesting again.

But a short term price rise doesn’t mean all our dreams have come true. For anyone who spent years advocating for sovereign F-you money outside the control of the state and centralized entities, a custodial ETF is not exactly a version of BTC that sticks it to the man.

And there’s another problem with calling this a victory lap: many of the companies that helped build crypto’s foundations are no longer around to enjoy the latest pump.