Every revolution eventually becomes the establishment. What began as crypto’s peer-to-peer challenge to the global financial order is rapidly being absorbed into the traditional fold, trading its anti-elite soul for the legitimacy of spot ETFs, institutional custody and the same banking frameworks it was built to bypass.

This is a familiar arc. Throughout history, every revolution has begun with the promise of breaking old power structures and dismantling the status quo. Once power is seized, the priority shifts to stability and preservation, transforming ideals into systems. Inevitably, the movement reaches the limits of insurgency, and to survive, it must court what it once shunned: venture capital, institutional trust and regulatory…