Bitcoin: the digital gold, the revolutionary technology, the democratizing force in finance. That’s the story we’ve all been sold over the past several years. But if we’re being honest with ourselves, can it?

Who Truly Benefits From Bitcoin?

Bitcoin just rocketed through $94,000. That increase was driven by a combination of Trump’s rhetoric, institutional optimism, and genuine FOMO. The average investor could expect to see modest improvement of their overall portfolio. Let’s be honest, who is really benefitting from these huge price swings.

It's definitely not your grandma who invested $50 into Bitcoin after reading about it on the news. It's the whales. This is what has the institutional investors pumping billions in Bitcoin ETFs. They are the ones who are getting the really huge benefits. They have the capital, the inside track knowledge, and the appetite for risk to participate at scale in this game.

Think about it: a $3 billion fund backed by SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex betting big on Bitcoin. That's not democratization, that's consolidation. The old guard of finance is just looking for a different sandbox. The rules continue to favor them, rigged to the hilt as always.

And whatever happened to the “Heads I win, tails bears lose” attitude? Of course, Bitcoin can go up in both risk-on and haven demand. But when the market crashes, who suffers the most? Not the institutions. They can weather the storm. But the retail investors—the moms and pops, the everyday people who bought into the hype, who weren’t in on the privilege—who are left holding the bag.

DeFi: A False Promise of Equality?

DeFi, fully developed on the ethos and promise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, was going to be different. It was meant to be completely decentralized, available to all, and not subject to the whims of centralized gatekeepers. How accessible is it, really?

Let's be real: navigating DeFi platforms is like trying to fly a spaceship with instructions written in Klingon. Gas fees are exorbitant, the smart contracts can be intimidating and the risk of getting rug-pulled is constant.

Who has the time, the expertise, the bandwidth to work through this convoluted minefield? Not the single mom working two jobs. Not the American senior who just wants to protect their life savings. It’s the tech-advanced, the financially educated and those who can afford to be losers.

The promise of DeFi is altogether wonderful. Sadly, the result too frequently looks like a gated community, accessible only to the privileged few. It’s as if they are inviting all of us to the banquet table. You raise the bar to a height that only Goliath’s of the industry can meet it.

Is There a Better Way Forward?

The story that gets told about Bitcoin is usually the same old, same old. It never ever fails to promise you financial freedom and decentralization. Whether or not it’s actually living up to those promises or is it merely reproducing the existing power dynamics in a digital service?

Perhaps it's time to shift our focus. Rather than follow the next Bitcoin moon shot. To that end, let’s explore the alternative DeFi projects and cryptocurrencies that really focus on decentralization, community governance, and accessibility.

See examples of best practices that meaningfully advance authentic community engagement. Explore DAOs that allow users to vote on important decisions and protocols built with cheaper transaction costs and more intuitive user experiences. This is where modest, truly democratizing seeds have been planted that could allow us to escape another elite-focused get-rich-quick scheme.

Aside from being rewarding speculative plays themselves, the rise of altcoins like SUI, BONK, and ENA indicate an emerging appetite for alternatives. They’re hungry for the opposite, they’re hungry for something that feels fair, that doesn’t have the same old gatekeepers, that’s not controlled by the same old empires.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t engage with the crypto space, but we need to be demanding much more. Let’s put the “heads I win” attitude to the test. Let’s build a better one that works for all Americans, not just the privileged few. The future of finance needs to be focused on empowering individuals—not cashing in institutions’ chips. Don't you think?

It's time to ask ourselves: are we building a truly democratic financial system, or are we simply playing another round of the same old game, where the house always wins? The truth, I fear, is a bit more complicated than we’d all like to believe. Join us in calling for a more equitable and accessible financial future today! Begin by acknowledging the really existing power dynamics at play, even on crypto’s own turf.