One correction to the framing: an adoption wave did arrive, just not in self-custody. What grew this cycle was balance-sheet exposure, meaning funds, ETFs and corporate treasuries, and none of that produces a new person who can spend without asking permission. Price averages both together, so each side gets to claim it was right. Better metric: count how many entities hold keys rather than how many addresses exist. Exchange omnibus wallets hide thousands of users behind one address, and one careful self-custodian easily looks like five. Same trap on Nostr, where follower counts and relay events are no measure of retention.