It’s turkey time, and you know what that means: mountains of food, lots of reclining, and endless conversations with family members who describe what you do in passing as “computers.”
Well, dear reader, fear not because this year won’t be like the last few Thanksgivings. Crypto isn’t in the depths of a bear market, and your cousin doesn’t think you’re a crook anymore.
Now crypto is ascending again—and everyone wants financial advice, just like Thanksgiving from three years ago.
Below is a compiled list of handy talking points for your crypto-curious relatives, covering the industry’s most significant, recent developments. Stick to the facts, avoid shilling meme coins to the elderly, and you’ll be cruising to pie in no time.
Bitcoin just hit an all-time high price—why?
Bitcoin came within a few hundred bucks of the vaunted $100,000 milestone last week, and while the price has retreated a bit recently, it returned above $97,000 earlier Wednesday.
What’s driving the demand that’s pushed Bitcoin’s price record in recent weeks? Institutional and retail investors have expressed optimism that there will soon be a more favorable regulatory climate for digital assets in the U.S.
That’s thanks to the victory of self-proclaimed crypto enthusiast Donald Trump, along with the election of the most pro-crypto Congress to date.
Meanwhile, institutional investors’ forays into spot Bitcoin ETFs have also given traders reason to be optimistic, pumping up the price of Bitcoin over the year. In short, Bitcoin is more “legit” than ever in the eyes of Wall Street and politicians.
ETFs have made crypto investing simpler and safer
Your folks may have heard that BlackRock and Fidelity—which may be managing their pensions—are now involved in Bitcoin. What are these two Wall Street giants doing with crypto? Well, you can explain: They swallowed the orange pill.
OK, so you probably don’t need to use Crypto Twitter jargon. Still, you can tell them that traditional finance bigwigs now offer exposure to the two largest digital assets, Bitcoin and Ethereum, via exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Thanks to long-awaited SEC approvals this year, top fund managers who manage different ETFs now let ordinary investors buy shares that track the price of the two via brokerage accounts. Even your technophobic aunt can down the orange pill with a couple of taps on her phone.
Crypto could flourish further under Trump
On the campaign trail this year, Trump made lots of promises about lots of things, including crypto. And while it remains to be seen whether he will live up to many of those commitments, signals are already indicating that he may be holding up the crypto end of the bargain—which could be a massive development for the industry.
First things first: last week, the president-elect nominated Scott Bessent as his Treasury Secretary. Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager, has indicated he’d back Trump’s proposal to establish a Bitcoin federal reserve. The plan would see the U.S. buy billions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin to diversify its reserves.
Think of it this way: If your uncle says Bitcoin has no real value, you might soon be able to tell him the U.S. government backs the asset.
Pair that with Trump’s plans to unwind the SEC’s aggressive crypto crackdown completely, plus his oath to get the Republican-controlled House and Senate to approve laws that would firmly legalize most crypto activity swiftly, and it’s no wonder crypto has exploded in recent weeks. Experts say the market still has much, much higher to climb in the coming months, too.
Elon Musk’s D.O.G.E. is a real thing
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, now has a role in Trump’s government: The Tesla CEO will lead the Department of Governmental Efficiency (D.O.G.E.) with billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy to supposedly clear up the bureaucracy.
What’s that got to do with crypto, though? Well, the new department’s acronym matches the ticker of Dogecoin, the original and most meme coin. That’s probably not a coincidence.
Elon Musk has for years spoken—and tweeted—about how it’s his favorite coin. This earned him the “Dogefather” title on Twitter, now called X, after he acquired the platform. While we can’t be 100% sure of the naming origins, Trump is selling a DOGE-themed t-shirt featuring himself, Musk, and a Shiba Inu—the mascot of Dogecoin.
Anyone can create a coin—and millions are trading
Don’t want to decide between Bitcoin or Ethereum? If you’d instead launch your own token, you can now do it much more efficiently than ever.
One of the most significant innovations from the most recent crypto cycle has been the creation of token launchpads, or platforms that allow anyone to near-instantly create a token with a few clicks and for a few cents worth of crypto.
The most notable launchpad, Pump.fun, a Solana-based platform, has given rise to some of the most memorable tokens from this cycle. Nearly four million tokens have been created on Pump.fun this year, ranging from animal tokens that have provided early traders with significant riches to those launched by crypto-curious celebrities like musician Iggy Azalea.
It’s getting easier to handle crypto
Crypto’s adoption barriers keep getting knocked down. Consumers now have a wide breadth of mobile app options to buy, sell, and interact with a variety of platforms.
Plus, the rise in smart wallets, which drastically simplify the onboarding process, is making it easier to get those previously intimidated by the technical complexities of crypto to participate on-chain.
With the launch of Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs, those looking to gain crypto exposure have more traditional financial options. That option didn’t exist in the U.S. last Thanksgiving.
Tread carefully: Scams are still abundant
Are you looking to dive head-first into crypto? Not so fast—you’ll first want to get your sea legs.
The crypto industry is rife with scams, and a seemingly innocuous link to an airdrop could lead you to a wallet drainer: Say goodbye to all your coins!
Even if you manage to keep your crypto out of scammers' grips, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to keep your holdings from going to zero. Not many people make money trading crypto, and much fewer are getting rich off of it. Up to 80% of day traders lose money over time, according to a report published in The Journal of Finance.
It’s still incredibly easy to lose your shirt in crypto, whether by clicking a malicious link or betting on highly volatile coins. For newcomers, you’re probably best suited to sticking to the most significant coins via apps like Coinbase, Robinhood, Cash App, or buying into ETFs.
Want to go deeper? Be very careful—you’ll be thankful in the long run.
Written by Sander Lutz, Elizabeth Napolitano, Mat Di Salvo, and Logan Hitchcock
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair