Fintech Might Absorb Crypto | The Breakdown

Think we can all agree that it's looking like a bear market for crypto. The real question is how long it will last. And we could sit here and count all the reasons why we're headed for another winter. The dad flywheel ran out of fractal steam perhaps, or it's all part of the four year halving cycle, which many have believed wasn't relevant anymore, but it turns out that crypto is just as cyclical as ever. Maybe it's all political and crypto is collateral damage in the few raw surrounding the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files, or it's social with the general public really not interested anymore. The very vocal reaction to Coinbase rug pulling Backstreet Boys karaoke in the middle of the Super Bowl would then be a proxy for retail sentiment across the board. The real explanation could be much more visceral than any of that. The reason crypto is down and not just even the prices, but culturally speaking as well, is because there are just no enemies left. The US government no longer an issue, and fraudsters and blowhards like Do Kwon, Alex Mashinsky, and SBF all long gone. Securities regulators also much more amenable under Trump with former SEC chair Gary Densler being the last great unifying villain the crypto has ever had to rally against. At this point, I would probably say that we're now destined to witness crypto go straight PVP. In fact, I wrote as much in August. And now, nearly six months later, I'm struggling to pinpoint exactly who crypto would be fighting against internally outside of perhaps Ethereum layer two's given Vitaly's recent medium. And then it dawned on me, fintech. Fintech might not be crypto's enemy per se, but it's clearly meant to be crypto's antagonist for the next cycle. I'm just not sure either camper realizes it yet. I'm your host David Canales, and this is the breakdown. Let's get to it. Nothing said on the breakdown is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the company's funds or projects discussed. First, I wanna draw your attention to what was happening this time last decade, not within crypto, but within finance or what we would now call TradFi. The world had just watched Uber and Airbnb totally disrupt the taxi and hotel industries and mapped those expectations onto fintech startups, But banks were a whole different beast to taxi companies and hotel chains. Joshua Reich, who co founded Simple, regarded as the first neobank, told the Wall Street Journal in late twenty fifteen that he'd founded the company with the idea that by just not sucking, we will win. We had a little bit of bravado back then, but there's a reality that to be in financial services, you have to work with banks. But …