it’s normal for people to cash in their chips at some point. the interesting question is: what are they buying as the ideological replacement for Bitcoin? Bitcoin in 2012 was an exit from the very fiat system that is co-opting it today. A scary-but-correct idea — the kind that “would never be allowed to succeed.” It thrived in the shadows of the internet, powered by those who believed in freedom more than profit… kept alive by ideological fervour, not an expectation of financial return. Zcash feels closest to this energy today. it’s niche, used in the fringes of the internet — where privacy is survival, not preference. engineers, privacy maxis etc. as AI blankets the world, your every action becomes queryable. your identity, money, beliefs all eventually become semi-public. also, the public-by-default nature of blockchains can be a liability. Privacy becomes a necessity — a refuge in a sea of leaks and public databases. Not for crime, but for dignity. Taleb has this rule: the intransigent minority always wins — if a small group insists on privacy and refuses to compromise, while the majority remains indifferent, the system eventually bends to them. price may stagnate, but feels the project has never been more relevant. It’s just waiting for its big moment. Bitcoin: can’t be seized Zcash: can’t be watched