Crypto enthusiasts appeared eager this week to read tea leaves, taking numerous developments—some more material than others—as signs that the ongoing, brutal, and seemingly endless crypto winter might finally be thawing.
Chief among those events was BlackRock’s registration of an iShares Ethereum Trust in Delaware, which immediately sparked rumors that the Wall Street titan may soon hope to offer an Ethereum ETF. Buzz about institutional interest in an Ethereum ETF only further fueled escalating anticipation on Crypto Twitter that a spot Bitcoin ETF could gain regulator approval within weeks.
Blackrock Ethereum ETF probably only is happening because they know the Bitcoin ETF is locked in. Bullish
It wasn’t long before these theoretical rumors spurred real market movement: on Thursday, Bitcoin surged above $37,000 for the first time in 18 months, as Ethereum pumped past $2,100 to its highest price since the onset of the current bear market last May. The price gains were so substantial that Beeple, the renowned NFT artist, decided to strip the “crypto winter” title from his upcoming crypto-themed holiday party.
🚨🚨 IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!! 🚨🚨
i've decided to change the name of our upcoming event from "Crypto Winter Wonderland" to "Crypto Bonerland" 🤠🍆😂 pic.twitter.com/xebiT81yhK
The excitement generated by these promising developments—which also benefited numerous altcoins—inspired a pervasive optimism across Crypto Twitter this week. The good vibes were so widely felt that crypto influencer ThreadGuy issued a decree permanently banishing anyone who hadn’t already posted “We’re so back” from the crypto community.
leave crypto if you haven’t tweeted “we’re so back” this week
This week, even seemingly tangential news was quickly absorbed into a broader narrative about crypto’s triumphant return. After “The Simpsons” released an NFT-themed episode on Sunday, many took the show’s focus on the industry as another sign that crypto’s recent uptick is speaking to a broader cultural resurgence—even though the episode was announced months ago, and spent most of its time ruthlessly skewering NFTs as an immoral Ponzi scheme.
Why the Simpsons NFT episode is ACTUALLY bullish.
While many see it as a negative (they are directly making fun of NFTs), there's a reason this episode was made.
Because attention is coming back to crypto and NFTs.
Despite the considerable gains made this week, though, crypto prices still sit well below the highs enjoyed at the heights of the 2021/2022 bull run. That’s a reality that, even amidst all of this week’s hype, some Crypto Twitter users were careful to keep in mind.
In a year that has pushed crypto to unprecedented heights of cultural and political prominence, this week brought some of the cycle’s most uncanny moments yet—thanks to Donald Trump.
On Monday, just one day after the former president survived an apparent second assassination attempt, he hosted Rug Radio’s Farokh Sarmad, a prominent Crypto Twitter personality, to discuss digital assets policy at his Mar-a-Lago estate. (Disclaimer: Rug Radio is Decrypt’s sister company.)
Due to the wild timing,...
Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt
Degens had plenty to sink their teeth into last week on Crypto Twitter, with surprise developments emerging from numerous high-profile projects in the space.
At the top of the week, Friend.tech, the once-red-hot decentralized social network with financial incentives, announced that development of the project had effectively ceased after months of flagging momentum.
Admin and ownership parameters have been set to 0x000...000 to prevent any changes to...
Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt
While Crypto Twitter can often be brutally black-and-white when it comes to narrativizing major events, this week saw the industry splinter into shades of gray after Telegram CEO Pavel Durov broke a days-long silence following his release from police custody in France.
In a lengthy letter to the public on this week—posted first to Telegram and then to Twitter—Durov weighed in for the first time on his arrest and indictment last week by French authori...
