Bitcoin “died” four times in 2025, but a hidden infrastructure boom proves the skeptics completely wrong
2025 delivered at least four distinct “crypto is dead” episodes: a January AI-induced flash crash, the October tariff liquidation that erased $19 billion in leveraged positions, months of altcoin carnage, and a fourth quarter slump that wiped out the year’s price gains.
Mainstream outlets dusted off “crypto winter” language each time. Bitcoin logged more obituaries by mid-year than in all of 2024, bringing the all-time tally past 470 since 2010.
Yet, beneath the violent drawdowns and Twitter eulogies, the infrastructure kept building.
Stablecoin legislation passed. Spot ETFs pulled in tens of billions. Major jurisdictions published actual rulebooks rather than issuing enforcement threats.
The result is a year where crypto “died”…
