I've been noticing much less negative stigma about crypto in the general discourse. I don't just mean the headlines in news, but in casual conversations with friends and strangers. What's surprising isn't that this change is happening; it's that it's happening this fast. The Trump admin's policy changes are yet to either happen or take effect, so it's not that. It can't be the news of such changes either, I don't think, given how unpopular Trump is these days.

My take is that it's the lack of the Biden admin's unfair and predatory approach to the whole industry. The second order effects of such a crippling attitude, combined with self inflicted harms like FTX, manifested a narrative of "well crypto must be bad" with the general populace. When that disappeared, the sentiment changed to more of a "oh crypto, that's cool tech I guess".

I only hope that as an industry we can take this blank cheque and this time build something we're all proud of. In a way I'm glad the price hype of Q4'2024 is gone now. It gives us precious 6-9 months to build the regulatory and business foundation in earnest. The tech is ready now.