When Even the Harshest Critics Start Dancing: Is This Bitcoin’s Bottom?

The Bears Come Out to Celebrate

After months of watching cryptocurrency prices slide, last week’s dramatic acceleration into what many called a “freefall” had bitcoin bulls scrambling for hope. They searched desperately for technical indicators or perhaps some story about an overleveraged hedge fund imploding—anything that might suggest this bear market was finally reaching its end. But ironically, the clearest sign that we might be approaching a market bottom came from an unexpected source: the very people who have spent over a decade warning everyone to stay away from bitcoin.

Since bitcoin’s creation sixteen years ago, it has journeyed from being worth essentially nothing to soaring past $100,000 at its peak. Throughout this entire remarkable rise, a dedicated group of critics has remained steadfast in their skepticism. Among traditional media outlets, the Financial Times of London has distinguished itself as perhaps the most consistent and vocal opponent of cryptocurrency. Their talented team of writers has maintained what the crypto community calls a “no-coiner” stance—meaning they don’t own any cryptocurrency and don’t believe anyone else should either. This past week, as bitcoin prices tumbled, became their long-awaited moment to say “I told you so.”

The Financial Times Takes Its Victory Lap

The paper’s Jemima Kelly penned an essay on Sunday with a headline that perfectly encapsulated both her personal position and the FT’s overall editorial stance toward bitcoin over the past decade-plus: “Bitcoin is still about $69,000 too high.” The publication even updated the headline overnight to “$70,000 too high” as bitcoin’s price continued rising slightly, demonstrating their commitment to precision in their criticism. Kelly didn’t hold back in her assessment, writing that “ever since its creation, bitcoin has been on a journey that will end, splattered on the ground.”

Her piece continued with even stronger language, suggesting that the week’s events proved that the supply of what she called “greater fools”—people willing to buy bitcoin at ever-higher prices—was finally running dry. She argued that the “fairy tales” supporting cryptocurrency were being exposed as exactly that: fiction. In her view, people were finally waking up to the reality that there’s no fundamental floor supporting the value of something she characterized as being based on “nothing more than thin air.” For someone who has watched and critiqued bitcoin’s rise for years, these falling prices seemed to validate long-held beliefs.

Earlier that same week, another FT writer, Craig Coben, took aim at Strategy (formerly known as MicroStrategy), the corporate giant that has become synonymous with institutional bitcoin investment. The company, led by the vocally pro-bitcoin Michael Saylor, has spent billions accumulating the cryptocurrency. When bitcoin’s price fell below $76,000—the average price Strategy had paid for its massive bitcoin holdings—Coben published a piece titled “Strategy’s long road to nowhere.” With the company’s stock already down approximately 80% from its late 2024 record high, Coben painted a grim picture of the company’s future, writing in a hypothetical February 2026 scenario that “management has no safe choices—only different paths to destroying shareholder value.” He concluded that it was difficult to see any reason to invest in a company that had “merely broken even on its investments over five years,” comparing Strategy to “a gigantic mastodon stuck in La Brea tar pits,” desperately “flailing for a way out.”

The Gold Bugs Join the Chorus

Peter Schiff, the well-known precious metals advocate and long-time bitcoin skeptic, also seized the opportunity to voice his criticisms. With gold continuing its strong bull run (despite some recent volatility), Schiff was particularly confident in his assessment. He directly challenged Michael Saylor’s characterization of bitcoin as “the best-performing asset in the world” by pointing out that despite Strategy investing over $54 billion in bitcoin over the previous five years, the company was currently down about 3% on that investment. Schiff predicted with certainty that “the losses over the next five years will be much greater.”

He went further, measuring bitcoin’s value in terms of gold rather than dollars—an approach that painted an even bleaker picture for cryptocurrency supporters. “Bitcoin below $76,000, it’s now worth 15 ounces of gold, down 59% from its Nov. 2021 high,” Schiff noted. From his perspective, this proved that “Bitcoin is in a long-term bear market priced in gold.” For someone who has built a career advocating for precious metals over digital assets, the recent price action seemed to vindicate his long-held position that gold, not cryptocurrency, represents true value and wealth preservation.

The Wisdom of Not Catching Falling Knives

Hugh Hendry, a former hedge fund manager known for his colorful observations about markets, once famously said, “I refuse to pick bottoms. Monkeys spend all their time picking bottoms.” His point was that trying to time your purchases to coincide exactly with the lowest price point is often a fool’s errand—even if monkeys might enjoy the activity. Following Hendry’s advice, it’s probably unwise to get too clever about timing purchases based on dramatic headlines like those that appeared in the Financial Times this week.

That said, when the most consistent critics of an asset are this jubilant and confident in declaring victory, it’s often a signal that we’re at least entering some kind of bottoming process, even if we can’t identify the exact lowest point. Market sentiment tends to be most negative right before reversals, and there’s rarely more negativity than when long-time bears finally feel validated. While we shouldn’t interpret these celebratory headlines as a precise timing signal to buy, they do suggest that pessimism has reached levels that historically precede recoveries.

Other Signs of a Potential Bottom

Beyond the vocal celebrations from bitcoin’s critics, other indicators emerged this week that suggest we might be approaching a market bottom—specifically, signs that would never appear when markets are hot and everyone is optimistic. One notable example involves Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin. Late last year, when cryptocurrency markets were still performing well, reports indicated that Tether was in discussions to raise between $15 and $20 billion at a valuation as high as $500 billion. Such ambitious fundraising plans reflected the confidence and enthusiasm that characterized that earlier period.

However, a report published in the Financial Times on Tuesday told a very different story. According to this newer reporting, investors were pushing back significantly against that half-trillion-dollar valuation, and Tether’s actual capital-raising efforts might only amount to about $5 billion—a fraction of the originally reported target. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino responded to the report by telling the FT that the initial reports of a $15-$20 billion raise were a “misconception,” and insisted that Tether had received substantial interest at the $500 billion valuation.

Despite Ardoino’s public statements, the FT report indicated that investors had privately expressed concerns about such a lofty valuation. The situation remains fluid, the report noted, and a rally in cryptocurrency prices could quickly shift sentiment back in a more positive direction. This kind of news—reduced investor enthusiasm, lower valuations, and scaled-back fundraising ambitions—is exactly the sort of thing that appears near market bottoms rather than tops. When the most successful company in a sector struggles to attract investment at previously discussed terms, it often signals that pessimism has reached extreme levels. Paradoxically, such extreme pessimism often precedes recoveries, as it means most of the potential sellers have already sold, and prices have little room left to fall. While no one can predict exactly when or how a recovery might begin, the convergence of jubilant long-time critics and deteriorating business sentiment suggests the market may be working through a bottoming process, even if the exact bottom remains unknown.