From the speculative mania of 2017 to the icy silence of bear markets, crypto’s story seemed nearing its end.
Retail investors retreated, headlines faded, and skeptics gleefully declared the technology dead. But while attention drifted elsewhere, the builders stayed.
Institutions, developers, and innovators quietly pressed forward, keeping crypto alive and accelerating its evolution.
And as Bitcoin approaches six figures, retail investors are paying attention again.
But don’t call it a comeback. Crypto’s been here for years.
The past three years have been transformative. Away from the spotlight, crypto has grown stronger, solving old problems, embracing new challenges, and positioning itself as the backbone of a more decentralized and efficient digital economy.
This is the first of a three-part series co-authored by me (Wyatt Cavalier) and John Belitsky.
John, an Altea co-founder, is one of those builders working tirelessly in the background to make the crypto dream a blockchain reality. He’s testified before legislatures, lobbied Senators, moved forward institutional and governmental adoption, and–most importantly–built.
He’s an expert in the real-world application (RWA) of blockchain technology and knows everyone in the space worth knowing.
You’re about to read a three-part love letter from blockchain technology to investors.
It’s the story of how crypto evolved in silence, laying the foundation for its most important chapter yet—and why now may be the perfect time to pay attention again.
It’s also the investment thesis behind Altea’s newest–and most impactful–investment opportunity yet.
With CryptoONE, we’re picking the highest-potential early-stage blockchain startups solving real-world problems and betting on them to ride the blockchain wave through its next fundamental phase – widespread institutional adoption.
Let’s go.
Table of Contents
The Builders Never Left
Bear Markets: Innovation in Disguise
Crypto’s infamous volatility isn’t just a financial rollercoaster; it’s a narrative engine. Booms attract attention, while busts inspire skepticism—and innovation. The bear markets of 2018–2020 and 2022–2023 weren’t periods of dormancy but rather times for builders to focus on the essentials.
Scaling, security, and usability—the triumvirate of blockchain’s greatest challenges—were tackled head-on. Developers implemented major advancements across blockchain protocols.
Layer-2 Scaling Solutions
Ethereum’s congestion and sky-high fees sparked a wave of innovation. Solutions like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Polygon introduced faster, cheaper transactions, attracting both developers and users. By November 2024, Arbitrum alone recorded $19.5 billion in monthly trading volume across Ethereum’s Layer-2 networks, while Optimism saw $12 billion.
A “Laboratory of Competition”
The rapid pace of open-market competition between Layer-2 solutions created an environment where innovative ideas were tested and refined in real time. zkRollups, Optimistic Rollups, and hybrid scaling models all emerged, driving costs down and efficiency up.
Avalanche’s Customizable Chains
Avalanche’s introduction of “Subnets” evolved into fully customizable Layer-1 blockchains. These allowed organizations to design blockchain ecosystems tailored to their needs, from governance to transaction costs. By late 2024, Avalanche Subnets had powered multiple enterprise and government projects.
Even in the quieter periods, crypto’s innovators showed that they weren’t building for hype but for resilience and scalability.
The Quiet Resurgence of DeFi
From Summer to Steady Growth
The “DeFi Summer” of 2020 wasn’t just a blip on the radar; it was the beginning of a long-term transformation.
What’s DeFi? Decentralized finance (DeFi) uses blockchain to recreate financial services without intermediaries, enabling peer-to-peer lending, trading, and yield farming.
By 2024, DeFi had matured into a multi-billion-dollar ecosystem.
Uniswap
Surpassing $2 trillion in lifetime trading volume, Uniswap remains the cornerstone of decentralized exchanges. In November 2024, it hit $38 billion in monthly trading volume across Layer-2s, a testament to DeFi’s growing scale.
Aave
With $12.34 billion in total value locked (TVL) and a 41% market share, Aave is a leader in crypto lending markets. It provides a decentralized alternative to traditional borrowing and lending systems.
Compound
The protocol maintains a solid $1.12 billion in TVL, with new features attracting institutional players seeking efficient ways to earn on digital assets.
These platforms demonstrated blockchain’s potential to disrupt traditional finance. Removing intermediaries, increasing transparency, and enhancing efficiency have reshaped the financial services industry—one smart contract at a time.
Developers: Crypto’s Resilient Core
BUIDLing in the Bear
While price charts fluctuated wildly, the blockchain developer community remained steadfast. Between 2020 and 2023, active developers grew by 60%. Far from being discouraged by the downturns, developers embraced the ethos of “BUIDL,” focusing on meaningful advancements rather than speculative hype.
Hackathons and Open Collaboration
Global hackathons like ETHGlobal became breeding grounds for innovation. Teams built solutions addressing real-world problems, from decentralized identity systems to tokenized carbon credits. Online forums and GitHub repositories buzzed with activity as the community worked together to refine standards, improve interoperability, and tackle challenges like security and scalability.
These efforts didn’t just sustain crypto—they drove it forward. Developers are the unsung heroes behind crypto’s quiet resurgence, ensuring the industry emerges stronger after every bear market.
Institutions: From Skeptics to Stakeholders
Wall Street Joins the Revolution
If 2017 was the year of retail euphoria, 2024 is the year of institutional adoption. Over the past three years, financial giants like BlackRock, Fidelity, and JPMorgan have moved from skeptics to stakeholders, reshaping the crypto narrative. JP Morgan, for its part, has been privately building ONYX, one of the most expansive crypto ecosystems in the world, since ~2015 while simultaneously offering colorful commentary alongside financial pundits deriding the technology. In the crypto industry, we call that a bullish signal.
The most significant shift since 2021 has been the influx of institutional players. BlackRock, Fidelity, and JPMorgan have (publicly) embraced crypto and actively developed products and services to cater to institutional and retail investors. BlackRock’s BUIDL initiative, which integrates traditional finance with blockchain, has been particularly transformative, bridging the gap between Wall Street and DeFi.
Ethereum Spot ETFs
November 2024 saw record-breaking inflows, with $333 million in a single day. BlackRock’s ETHA fund attracted $250 million, and Fidelity’s FETH brought in $79 million. Together, these pushed Ethereum ETF assets under management to $11 billion.
Bitcoin ETFs
The U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market added $1.7 billion in inflows in just one week, driving Bitcoin’s market cap to $1.8 trillion and its price near $100,000.
These aren’t isolated developments—they signify a broader shift in perception. Institutions now view blockchain as infrastructure, not speculation.
Governments Step In
El Salvador’s Bitcoin Experiment
In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Despite skepticism, its daily Bitcoin purchases strategy has yielded significant returns. By November 2024, the country’s holdings had reached 5,948 BTC with an unrealized return of 113%.
Bukele took to Instagram to share the good news with his many extremely vocal skeptics, posting a screenshot of El Salvador’s current balance without further elaboration.
The U.S. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve
In July 2024, the BITCOIN Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate, proposing the creation of a federal reserve of 1 million BTC over five years. This move signals not just adoption but strategic intent, aiming to hedge against inflation and position the U.S. as a leader in the digital economy.
The implications are profound.
- Increased Demand and Market Impact: The government’s planned acquisition of a substantial portion of Bitcoin’s limited supply is expected to elevate demand, potentially driving up Bitcoin’s market value. Holding these assets long-term could reduce market liquidity, leading to a supply shock that may further escalate prices.
- Necessity for Advanced Institutional Infrastructure: Managing significant Bitcoin reserves necessitates robust, secure, and scalable infrastructure. This includes developing advanced custody solutions, compliance systems, and transaction platforms to ensure the secure storage and management of digital assets. The current infrastructure may be inadequate for efficient large-scale governmental holdings and will likely drive innovation in this sector.
- Opportunities for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The government’s entry into the crypto market creates opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop solutions addressing these new requirements. Innovations in secure storage, regulatory compliance, and seamless integration with existing financial systems will be crucial.
- Global Influence and Financial Strategy: By establishing a Bitcoin reserve, the U.S. signals a strategic commitment to digital assets, potentially influencing other nations to adopt similar measures. Follow-on Nation State adoption of Bitcoin Reserves creates a compounding vector of supply shock that may compel still higher BTC in the near term.
Governments are no longer observers; they’re active participants in shaping crypto’s future.
Regulation: From Chaos to Clarity
While regulatory uncertainty loomed large during crypto’s early years, the last three years have seen a global shift toward clarity. Countries like the United States, Singapore, and the European Union have introduced comprehensive frameworks for crypto assets, lending legitimacy to the industry and establishing consumer safeguards. These policies have protected consumers and attracted institutional players who were previously hesitant to enter the space.
Wyoming
As a trailblazer, Wyoming introduced the Wyoming Stable Token initiative, showcasing how states can harness blockchain for the public good. This initiative has set a precedent for other jurisdictions exploring state-level digital currencies, aiming to issue the first fully USD-reserved, state-issued stable token. Significantly, Wyoming is leading the way in creating a non-central bank digital currency, preserving privacy and closely aligning with the principles of the Bitcoin Whitepaper.
Global Trends
European Union regulations (MiCa) and Singapore’s crypto-friendly policies have attracted institutional players, creating environments where blockchain businesses can thrive.
Clear rules are transforming crypto from the Wild West into a mature, regulated asset class, paving the way for widespread adoption.
The Vast Untapped Potential
Despite its growth, crypto remains a fraction of traditional markets:
- The global bond market is worth $140 trillion, compared to $2 billion in tokenized U.S. Treasuries.
- Global Real Estate is valued at $340 trillion, with tokenized assets barely reaching $8 billion.
- Stablecoins, at $190 billion, are projected to grow to $3 trillion by 2028.
Tokenization: A Trillion-Dollar Opportunity
Tokenization—representing real-world assets on the blockchain—unlocks new markets.
For example, tokenized real estate allows fractional ownership, opening new avenues for property investment. Similarly, tokenized bonds and Treasuries introduce liquidity, and when paired with stablecoins offer the most popular use case for crypto date. This convergence of traditional assets and blockchain technology represents a seismic shift in global finance, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors.
What’s Next?
Crypto’s evolution is far from over. The past three years have seen it grow stronger, more resilient, and more integrated into the global economy. Developers, institutions, and governments have laid the groundwork for unprecedented innovation.
In the next post, we’ll explore blockchain technology’s real-world applications and how it solves problems in finance, real estate, and commerce. Stay tuned: crypto’s most exciting chapter is just beginning.
That’s all for today.
Cheers,
John & Wyatt
