The Internet Is Under Attack. Is Crypto Next?

Black October was framed as a collision of three shocks: escalating war fears and oil-price spikes, AI-related capex and debt worries, and a wave of cyber vulnerabilities that made the internet look fragile. The host argued that while the headlines were ugly, crypto had been holding up better than the broader market before the selloff, and that Bitcoin and crypto may be positioned to benefit once the macro noise clears.

A guest leaned on cycle analysis to argue that Bitcoin is still in an early bull phase and has outperformed the Nasdaq since the July 30 bottom, while also noting that timing matters enormously for long-term returns. That bullish case was reinforced by JPMorgan’s long-term capital markets assumptions paper, which for the first time placed Bitcoin at the top of its expected return table at 10% annualized, ahead of real estate, stocks, bonds, gold, and cash.

The episode also highlighted several crypto-specific movers: Pearl, Lighter, Venice, Zcash, and Monero. The hosts viewed Lighter’s public investor call and planned CFTC licensing as a sign that token projects can mature into transparent, public businesses. They also discussed Solana’s AlpenGlow upgrade, the merger of Aerodrome and Velodrome into Arrow, and a major stablecoin rules win that preserved reward programs under the Genius Act framework.