The OGs Are Tired, the Newbies Are Wrecked, but the Game Ain’t Over. Adapt or Die

This isn’t just another crypto cycle—it’s like your favorite underground dive bar getting bought out and turned into a fancy cocktail lounge. The degens and retail gamblers who once ran the place are nursing their wounds, while the big dogs—hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, and TradFi titans—are rolling in with tailored suits and algorithmic strategies, ready to run the table.

The crypto OGs? They’ve seen more drama than a reality TV reunion—Mt. Gox meltdowns, ICO casinos, DeFi summer fling, and the NFT gold rush that turned into a garage sale. Now, they’re hoping to see Bitcoin’s march back to $120K-$150K soonest, wondering if that will be the time to cash out like a retiring poker pro or if there’s another wild hand to play.

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But let’s be clear—crypto isn’t dying; it’s just getting a corporate makeover. The bottle service crowd is moving in, and the rules of the game are changing. The question is: are you adapting, or are you the guy still asking if Dogecoin can hit $10?

1. The Market Ain’t What It Used to Be

Crypto is like that wild, lawless frontier town that just got a Starbucks and a zoning board—the anarchy is fading, and the institutions are moving in. Gone are the days when a meme and a dream could 100x your bag overnight. The new game? Suits, regulations, and macroeconomic chess.

Bitcoin’s New Boss: Macroeconomics, Not the Halving Fairy

If you still think Bitcoin’s price is dictated solely by the four-year cycle, you’re like a boomer waiting for dial-up internet to connect—out of touch with reality. Bitcoin is now a macro asset, reacting to interest rates, global liquidity, and economic risk sentiment like a seasoned Wall Street trader checking bond yields before buying avocado toast. If you don’t understand macro, you’re bringing a fidget spinner to a chess match.

Retail Is Out, Institutions Are In

Remember when your Uber driver and your barber were both shilling altcoins and debating Ethereum gas fees? Yeah, those days are over. Now it’s BlackRock, sovereign wealth funds, and TradFi giants calling the shots. ETFs have pumped billions into the space, but they also turned Bitcoin into a corporate asset—less like a wild stallion, more like a Tesla stock with extra drama.

The Liquidity Divide: Bitcoin and ETH Get VIP, Alts Get Left at the Door

Institutional money is flowing into BTC, ETH, and a few blue-chip alts like champagne at a billionaire’s yacht party. Everything else? Liquidity is drying up faster than your New Year’s gym resolution. Many smaller altcoins are turning into ghost chains—haunted by dreams of past bull runs and bag holders who refuse to sell.

The Trump Effect: Meme Magic or Liquidity Trap?

Trump’s newfound pro-crypto stance has injected fresh energy into the market, with talks of a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a push to fast-track stablecoin regulations. But here’s the kicker—his memecoin casino ($TRUMP, $MELANIA) became a black hole of liquidity, sucking in degen funds and leaving the broader market gasping for air. It’s like a carnival where everyone spends their last dollar trying to win a giant teddy bear, only to realize they can’t afford the ride home.

2. Web3 Promised a Revolution, But Where’s the Utility?

Web3 was supposed to change the world, but instead, it feels like we got a Las Vegas buffet—lots of hype, a few good dishes, and a whole lot of junk food. DeFi was meant to replace banks, NFTs were supposed to redefine ownership, and the Metaverse was going to be the place to be. But after all the billion-dollar promises, the only thing people actually use? Stablecoins.

The Only True Killer App: Stablecoins (aka Fancy Internet Dollars)

Forget DeFi revolutions and NFT empires—the only thing crypto has truly nailed is creating digital dollars with fewer middlemen and slightly better vibes. If Web3 was a sci-fi movie, stablecoins would be the only piece of alien tech that actually works, while everything else is just concept art and fan theories.

The Grifter Economy: Speculation Still the Main Event

Crypto still operates like a high-stakes Ponzi carnival, where meme coins, influencer pump-and-dumps, and overpriced “next-gen” chains (TIA, SEI, MONAD, BERACHAIN) launch with $5B+ valuations before anyone has even used them. It’s like opening a five-star restaurant, spending millions on marketing, and then forgetting to hire a chef.

The “Fat Protocol Thesis” Has Officially Exploded

For years, crypto’s Fat Protocol Thesis argued that blockchain infrastructure should be worth more than the apps built on it. Turns out, that was like investing in roads and expecting them to be more valuable than the cities they connect. While real businesses trade at 5-15x Price/Revenue, some stagnant L1s and L2s are still holding onto 150x-1000x multiples, despite zero growth. At this point, some of these chains are like theme parks with no rides—just overpriced entry tickets and a lot of broken promises.

VCs Still Need Exit Liquidity (And You’re It)

A lot of these “innovative” projects exist purely as an exit strategy for early investors, just like the ICO mania of 2017. If a project drops with instant token unlocks and a fully diluted valuation bigger than Coinbase, congratulations—you’re not investing, you’re the exit liquidity. It’s like buying a house, only to realize the previous owner sold you the land, the walls, and even the air inside the rooms separately.

3. Crypto’s Brain Drain: The Builders Have Moved to AI

Crypto’s top devs are fleeing to AI like rats off a sinking ship—or, more accurately, like Web3 influencers deleting their “Decentralized Forever” tweets and rebranding as AI thought leaders overnight.

Why Are Devs Ditching Crypto for AI?

Because AI is the new hotness, while crypto is the aging rockstar still trying to sell out stadiums based on a hit song from 2017.

• Clearer Regulations – AI is like a promising but slightly terrifying child genius—governments aren’t sure whether to nurture it or keep it under surveillance. Crypto? Still being treated like the rebellious teenager who maxed out grandma’s credit card on dog coins.
• Better Funding – VCs are throwing money at AI like it’s the next Google, while crypto founders are stuck pitching their 12th “revolutionary” L1 to a room full of empty chairs.
• Fewer Boom-Bust Cycles – AI is like a steady, high-achieving honors student. Crypto? The kid who either wins the science fair or burns down the lab—no in-between.

The Great Web3 → AI Migration

The same “visionaries” who promised to decentralize the world are now training AI models to write corporate emails and generate suspiciously realistic deepfakes.

• Crypto wanted to replace banks.
• AI just wants to replace you.

At this rate, the only devs still in crypto are either true believers or people too lazy to update their LinkedIn.

4. The OGs Are Cashing Out, But the Game Ain’t Over

The crypto veterans—the ones who survived Mt. Gox, ICO mania, DeFi rug pulls, and the “oops, I accidentally sent my entire portfolio to the wrong address” phase—are finally cashing in. They’ve been here long enough to know that when BlackRock starts buying Bitcoin, the days of exponential gains are over.

Where Are They Going?

• AI & Tech – Because why gamble on memecoins when you can build the algorithm that’s going to replace financial analysts?
• Real Estate – After years of staking, yield farming, and margin trading, the real 100x play might just be… a house in Miami.
• Semi-Retirement – Some OGs are so done with checking CoinGecko at 2 AM that they’ve moved to tropical islands and only speak in Bitcoin maxispeak now.

But Institutions Are Taking Over

Just because the OGs are leaving doesn’t mean crypto is dead. Instead, big-money institutions are moving in, like Wall Street bros discovering DeFi summer two years too late.

Crypto is no longer just a playground for degens and gamblers—it’s evolving. The casino is still open, but now Goldman Sachs owns the slot machines.

So, the question is: Are you ready for the next chapter, or are you just here to FOMO into the next meme coin?

5. The Bullish Case: A New Crypto Boom Will Look ……..Different

Crypto’s next boom is going to be like that one friend who used to party too hard but now shows up to brunch in a blazer and actually orders a salad instead of tequila shots. The chaos is settling down, and the wild teenager has turned into a well-behaved, investment-grade adult—well, sort of.

Regulation Is Finally Taking Shape

Crypto is getting a makeover—like the class clown who’s suddenly become Student Council President. It’s still mischievous, but now it’s got a shiny new suit and a “Let’s Follow The Rules” badge.

• The SEC finally decided to stop treating every crypto exchange like a villain in a Bond movie. They’ve dropped lawsuits against Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Uniswap, and others, like they finally realized crypto isn’t going anywhere—kind of like when your dad stops fighting with you about your “questionable” tattoos.
• DeFi broker rules? The IRS is probably going to be forced to stop trying to ruin everyone’s fun. Imagine telling your uncle, “You can keep the party going—just don’t break anything.”
• The Senate Banking Committee is about to vote on the Stablecoin Act, and the GENIUS Act is gaining traction. It’s like crypto’s getting an official parental approval slip for the field trip.

Institutional Adoption Is Accelerating

Big institutions are diving into crypto like the finance world’s version of the “cool kids” finally deciding to let you sit at their lunch table.

• BlackRock, JPMorgan, and sovereign wealth funds are here, and they’re not just coming in to “dip their toes”—they’re cannonballing into the deep end, hoping they don’t hit the bottom with their weighty portfolios.
• The UAE’s Mubadala fund is now a top Bitcoin ETF holder, showing that crypto’s finally got the cool uncle in the family (who still tells jokes but can also pay for the vacation).
• Solana, XRP, and other ETFs are in the pipeline, making this crypto party feel more like a black-tie gala with people in suits, instead of just random people in flip-flops.

Crypto IPOs Are Coming

Now that crypto’s dressed up and going public, we’re seeing the Kraken, Gemini, and BitGo IPOs—they’re bringing transparency and credibility to a space that once had the charm of a high-stakes poker game played in a dimly lit basement.

• Public offerings are like crypto’s graduation ceremony, where it’s finally handed a diploma and a chance to explain what it actually does to its worried parents.

Governments Are Warming Up to Crypto

Governments, once convinced that crypto was the crazy cousin who showed up to family events drunk on moonshine, are now offering to share a cab to the bar. Crypto’s getting respect—the kind it always thought it deserved.

• Multiple U.S. states are considering holding Bitcoin reserves—which is kind of like states putting some “cool points” on their balance sheets.
• Hong Kong approved spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, basically saying, “We’re cool with it, just don’t break anything.”
• The UAE, Brazil, and Australia are creating crypto-friendly regulations, making them the new cool kids in the crypto neighborhood.
• The European Union’s MiCA framework is like crypto’s first-grade teacher handing out certificates of good behavior, saying, “You’ve been a little wild, but we’re going to let you play with the other kids now.”

Final Thoughts: Adapt and Thrive

Yes, the market has changed, yes, the OGs are tired and considering retirement in Boca Raton, and yes, the grifters are still around like those guys who try to sell you “magic” diet pills on Instagram. But hey, every cycle brings new winners—kind of like a reality TV show where the contestants keep getting replaced, and nobody ever really knows the rules.

• In 2013, it was the Bitcoiners, who were basically the wild-eyed pioneers of the Wild West, claiming they were sitting on a goldmine while everyone else was still figuring out how to use PayPal.
• In 2017, it was the ICO founders, who saw a whitepaper and thought, “Let’s raise a billion dollars and get rich quick, then figure out what to actually do later.” Like a bunch of kids selling lemonade in the desert, but with a lot more zeros in their bank accounts.
• In 2020, it was the DeFi builders, launching new protocols faster than your uncle can tell you about his latest “highly speculative” stock pick. They were basically the “mad scientists” of crypto—creating decentralized money while trying not to blow up their lab.
• In 2021, it was the NFT flippers, who treated pixelated pictures of apes like golden tickets to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, but instead of candy, it was a bag of cash. They were the Wall Street stockbrokers of the JPEG world, making bank while the rest of us were still trying to figure out what the hell a “mint” was.
• In 2024, we witnessed the institutional ETF takeover, coupled with the rise of memecoin mania—both going hand in hand until memcoin defends realised that the Suits and Wall Street bank takeover was much beyond what they could imagine. We witnessed the whole crypto scene going from being the rebellious teenager who only listened to punk rock to suddenly showing up at a business meeting in a well-tailored suit and a tie (and still managing to spill coffee on it).
• 2025 and Beyond
  • Institutions have taken over. Adapt and learn that game or die
  • BTC is the king and a macro asset like Gold. learn macro, learn how Wall Street thinks and trades
  • The new administariton is an anomaly that will constantly keep on squeezing money out of crypto along with his allies. Nothing new, just another player like we had FTX, Luna, 3AC or the VC coins in the past. You adapt and you learn to game the gamers. You don’t just give up
  • As for alt coins, despite huge investments over the last 10 years, there isn’t much real-world value to show for it. Most altcoins, including Ethereum & Solana, remain speculative, with minimal demand for their products. Look at Ethereum, they are not even sure what the problem is, let alone trying to find a solution. Solana is all but a speculative chain now. Once institutions start evaluating these tokens based on actual fundamentals, many will appear vastly overvalued. That is where BTC becomes even more dominant in my opinion.

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1. This article is reprinted from [Hashtalks]. All copyrights belong to the original author [Sankalp Shangari]. If there are objections to this reprint, please contact the Gate Learn team, and they will handle it promptly.
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