Bitcoin is not good at transactions— is this surprising at all? Is Bitcoin easier to control if it is only used as digital gold? I know we have the Lightning Network and other developments in progress, and Lightning does work technically. People use it every day. But it hasn't delivered self-custodial, private, everyday payments at scale, and much of its real use runs through custodial wallets.

Bitcoin, when I first started a decade ago, was so exciting as a tool to be money outside the state, but it seems we have become so intertwined that it has lost its roots—or maybe I am just getting old and it has lost its luster. I guess another, better form of savings is life‑changing in itself, but I had much bigger dreams for Bitcoin. Maybe it just takes a little longer.