Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
When reading the latest obituaries for blockchain and cryptocurrencies, it helps to remember they've been written before.
The big picture: There have been many crypto booms and busts. But in each bust, the bottom is a little higher than it was the time before. This is the slow build that believers count on to eventually bring crypto mainstream.
Driving the news: The collapse of FTX is only the latest headline-grabbing failure to rattle the crypto market this year. May's collapse of the Terra stablecoin really kicked off the present downturn.
Flashback: There were bitcoin booms in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2021. The last three have all received wide mainstream attention, and obituaries similar to today's were written after every previous cycle.
Of note: Today, more machine power is mining bitcoin and securing the network than any other boom time in crypto's history.
By the numbers: Global demand for bitcoin right now is roughly equal to a level that, just few years ago, was only attained in an atmosphere of irrational exuberance.
Bitcoin price isn't just a number: It's a measure of how much the world wants a thing. After each boom and bust, there are more people who want crypto than there were in the last bust. This keeps happening, and appears to be happening again.
What we're watching: Bitcoin's price could still go much lower, but unless prices get stuck below 2018's levels, the digital coin is likely to come roaring back eventually, just as it has each time before.
