# Crypto was the training ground

Source: https://x.com/redphone/status/2085070966279884972

## Summary

The author argues that crypto was a training ground that prepared them for the AI-driven world now emerging, even though the current bear market has been harder than any since they bought their first BTC 13 years ago. They attribute the downturn partly to AI, which has taken public attention from crypto since ChatGPT's release, and say the retail losses from FTX, Celsius, BlockFi and Anchor were especially damaging. They remain bullish on broader adoption, bitcoin and privacy coins like $ZEC, and expect attention to return to crypto tied to AI, agents and possibly depin/robotics.

## Article

The world now moves like a memecoin chart. More than a decade in crypto didn't just teach me about markets. It prepared me for everything coming next...

But I didn't get here feeling triumphant. I got here through a bear that's felt worse than any I've lived since buying my first BTC 13 years ago. So let me start with the ugly:

1. Crypto prices have been brutal. And I don't think it's bc we're in a simple "bear." I think it's bc crypto no longer captures public imagination. AI owns it now.

2. The release of ChatGPT supplanted crypto as the “most intellectually interesting” technology (at least the most interesting thing that everyday investors could access). When I look back at the bull market of 2021-22, I see a world that was somewhat more “innocent” and optimistic. We had time to f around with memecoins and yield farms and NFTs. We weren’t all worried our jobs were going to get ground into dust.

3. LLMs are compounding technological change in astounding ways… there’s just not enough psychological headspace to give af about some incremental improvement in an AMM or perps protocol or prediction market. Sure, it’ll improve finance, but it just doesn’t come close to touching all the existential issues raised by AI and robotics.

4. I’m annoyed at myself for not pivoting harder into stocks and private rounds from 2023 onward (I didn’t do it in a serious way until late 2025). In retrospect, it feels like I had blinders on and assumed that past cycles would repeat in perpetuity. I also made some bets on things that really fascinated me (zora, FT, runes, etc.) that largely collapsed.

5. We really f’d over a lot of retail investors. Hardcore crypto traders got rekt on FTX. Retail moms and pops were in things like Celsius, BlockFi and Anchor (and while they don’t get as much attention as FTX, I think those savings-like products hurt everyday people even worse). Get burned like that, and you’re just not coming back.

Now, some of the good:

6. I’m still bullish as ever on broader crypto adoption. RWAs, stables, prediction markets, onchain yield, onchain private equity exposure, etc., are finally hitting their stride. They’ll rework all the plumbing of the global financial system. I just wish everyday people had more exposure to the upside… feels like gains will largely accrue to the already-wealthy.

7. The crypto crowd has spent a decade+ thinking about decentralization, censorship-resistance, privacy, oracles, credible neutrality. All these themes are going to become increasingly important in AI land. AI natives might not see it yet, but it’s inevitable. The neutral rails we’ve built (not controlled by any one person, govt or corporation) will be one of our strongest bulwarks against technological fiefdom and authoritarian control.

8. I’m pretty convinced the attention pendulum will swing back to crypto at some point, but it’ll happen in ways that only rhyme with the past. I expect it’ll be tied to AI, agents and potentially depin/robotics. I’m also excited to see crypto bring liquidity to early-stage startups.

9. I’m as bullish as ever on bitcoin and privacy coins like $ZEC. A multipolar world and debt burdens point to alternative assets as a genuine hedge.

Zooming out:

10. Crypto is morphing from its hype phase to its infra phase. All the things we dreamed about a decade ago are real and taken for granted today. The hype phase gives you dopamine. The infra phase is the more mature, cashflow-generating phase. That I think is why people talk about the “revenue meta” in crypto. It’s kind of a silly concept bc that “meta” is just reality. Once hype leaves, markets need something tangible (revenue, buybacks, distribution). The real replaces the dream.

11. To put it another way, crypto is growing up. It exited the teen years and started carrying a briefcase and showing up at board meetings and drafting financial regulations.

12. If you’re losing faith, don’t regret your years in crypto… use it as fuel to propel you in new directions. Take all the learnings, which happen 10x faster than they do in other fields, and point your exponential self wherever the f you feel fascinated. Crypto’s honed you into an analytical machine. It’s given you real-time market feedback on your theories about the future. It’s taught you about greed, psychology, economics, macro and micro forces. That knowledge can be applied anywhere.

The world is now moving like a memecoin chart. Crypto itself was never the final destination. It was our training ground for what’s yet to come.

## Comments

**rvolz.eth**: > The world is now moving like a memecoin chart. Crypto itself was never the final destination. It was our training ground for what’s yet to come.