I think one of the big reasons this cycle has felt so brutal can be summed up in one chart:
Retail never came back.
Everyone was waiting for a 2021-style alt-season that never arrived. Meanwhile BTC just kept grinding higher for three years while alts bled out against it.
This chart from @intocryptoverse shows social risk:
Blue = low social interest
Red = high social interest
And here’s the wild part:
If BTC really topped in October at ~$126k… nobody cared.
Social interest was sitting at levels you’d normally see in a bear market — not the peak of a euphoric bull.
