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Tue, Nov 18, 2025 | Jumada al-Awwal 27, 1447 | Fajr 05:17 | DXB 
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Is it time for crypto enthusiasts to be hopeful again?
The trade wars are easing, the US government is all in on crypto, and it appears that, after a long time, there might be good news on the horizon
In crypto slang, “hopium” means irrational or addictive optimism about prices going up, even when there’s little evidence to justify it. It’s used to describe that emotional high investors get when they want the market to turn bullish so badly that they start ignoring fundamentals or bad news.
After everything we’ve been through in the last two years, it finally feels like something’s shifting. The US Federal Reserve was set to meet on interest rates, the US and China are sketching out a framework for their issues on trade, and everyone seems to have forgotten about the brutal flash crash that wiped out $19 billion just a few weeks ago.
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It’s easy to confuse this moment with yet another false dawn. But as someone who’s been buying crypto since 2023 – and who’s lived through highs and lows — I can say this: the difference now is how we’re approaching it.
The long road here
I’ve made a few mistakes: I round-tripped through the Trump bump in late 2024 to early 2025. I watched my portfolio climb, proudly showed it to friends, and then watched every bit of those paper profits evaporate. I bought a few meme coins, and experienced stress I don’t wish to replicate. I’ve had projects vanish and others that appear to be regrouping.
I withstood the horrible summers of 2024 and 2025 — the endless chop, the fear, the disillusionment. I watched as my crypto groups turn nasty when all hope seemed lost.
Sure, there are still nights I wake up at 3 a.m. wondering if I’m doing the right thing. But for the most part, I’ve learned to zoom out.
A more bullish backdrop
We are on the brink of a massive financial shift. There is more regulatory clarity every day, helped along by a US president and his family who are all in on crypto.
Add to that the prospect of rate cuts, institutional liquidity returning, and many more factors, and the setup for a short-to medium-term rally is hard to ignore.
But as every crypto veteran knows, you can’t count on anything. Which is why this time, I have a plan.
if the rally takes off
I’m taking profits. Regularly. I’m not selling my Bitcoin — that’s my long-term conviction and a key part of my retirement plan. I’m still debating what to do with XRP: whether it’s a generational hold or one to partially trim on strength.
As for the small altcoins in my portfolio? I’ve stopped obsessing. That part of my stack is more like a Vegas table than a retirement account, and I treat it accordingly. The only new projects I’m interested in are solid layer-ones and perhaps the odd very interesting, innovative bet with a good team. Crypto veterans often say that when “normies” start asking about crypto, it’s time to start selling. I don’t think so. But I was very heartened last week. I watched a crypto educational video while getting a treatment when the Filipina nurse asked about Bitcoin. She was genuinely curious, telling me about people back home whose lives had changed through crypto. I suggested she explore: not financial advice, but maybe open an account and buy a little. See how it feels. I wonder what she will say when I return next month.
From hope to conviction
I have completely transformed my view on this entire space from when I set out. When I entered in 2023, I just wanted to catch “alt season.” Somewhere along the way, I developed conviction — in the properties and potential of Bitcoin, and more recently, in XRP.
Now, my focus is balance. Take greed out of it. Skim some lifestyle profits along the way. And make sure I’m holding something that could stand the test of time.
I hope this column ages well. It does seem that the promised alt season – even the one “guaranteed” by President Trump himself after he was elected – keeps getting delayed. Market manipulation is real, and it’s unnerving to know the same institutional giants who could crush a small investor like me have entered the space.
Then again, is it any different from the stock market? That’s where we’re all told to park our retirement savings.
A paradigm shift in sight
I truly believe we’re in the middle of a massive financial transition. Just like the early days of the internet, blockchain is going to transform how we do everything.
As macro economics expert and “banana zone” crypto expert Raoul Pal put it in a video I watched this week, owning crypto is like owning a piece of the internet itself — not just Facebook or Amazon, but the infrastructure they run on. You couldn’t do that with the internet. You can with blockchain and the associated projects. That is real.
Still, because it’s early and misunderstood, it’s risky. Wildly risky. But it’s a risk I’m willing – clearly – to keep taking.
Because while hope can be dangerous, it’s also what keeps us here, quietly accumulating, through every crash, every plunge, every sleepless night — waiting for the moment when it’s no longer ‘hopeium’, but reality.
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