Bitcoin hit $126,000 in October 2025, then lost more than half its value by June 2026. The explanations came thick and fast: a failed inflation hedge, fair-weather ETF money, a new story every month. Even the stablecoin defence is a confession: crypto’s proof of life is a dollar IOU, issued by companies that can freeze it and regulated by the state it set out to bypass. This is the long walk of an asset class built on belief.