Of course it could just be me but there has been a sense of normalization in btc’s rise to six figures even though it’s an all-time high around $122k. I remember the previous runs and the cultural wave they had on retail interest doesn’t seem to exist as much.
However, it is not bad necessarily. The retail fomo and SM hype also acted as catalysts in previous runs. But the multiple boom cycles may have created a new boring normal to mainstream adoption. Furthermore, Financial Twitter has shifted focus to AI companies (NVIDIA, OpenAI) and politics from btc as NVIDIA and other techs are riding the AI hype train. Also, psychological aspects such as btc rise from 110k to 122k is less emotionally and attentively impactful as 1k to 20k.
The institutional money flowing into Bitcoin ETFs and corporate treasuries has fundamentally altered the market dynamics too. Tools like awaken.tax are becoming more relevant as traders move from speculative plays to actual portfolio management. When MicroStrategy or BlackRock buys Bitcoin, it doesn't create the same viral social media moments as retail investors discovering crypto for the first time. These institutional purchases happen quietly, methodically, without the memes and excitement that drove previous cycles. It's efficient but sterile – the kind of adoption we wanted but perhaps didn't expect would feel so… corporate.
Anyone else noticing this shift? Even though it’s still volatile, has btc started to become a maturing asset?
