“We’re not early anymore.” That is the mantra echoing across Crypto Twitter today. Last week, 35,000 people attended Bitcoin 2025, including Bitcoin enthusiasts, U.S. senators, White House staff, BlackRock analysts, and even once-imprisoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. The spot price is well above $100,000, and Bitcoiners are celebrating ‘going mainstream.’
But behind the standing ovations and ETF-fueled price charts lies a quieter truth: Bitcoin is still far from mainstream.
Despite a record-setting rally and Wall Street’s growing embrace, only 4 percent of the global population holds any Bitcoin at all. In raw numbers, that’s about 337 million people, half as many as Snapchat users. Even if you include altcoins, we’re still a few hundred million short at 659 million.
For all its trillion-dollar promise, Bitcoin remains a fringe tool in a still-developing ecosystem.
Bitcoin is still the late-90s internet
Compare Bitcoin’s adoption curve to that of the early Internet:
| Metric | Bitcoin | Internet (1996) | Today’s Internet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Users / Owners | 337 million | ~77 million | 5.5 billion |
| Global Penetration | 4% | ~1.4% | 68% |
Bitcoin in 2025 resembles the Internet before email went fully mainstream. It is a place of innovation, but far from ubiquitous. Using your Bitcoin wallet and reading articles like this one is akin to owning an AOL account or installing the latest version of Netscape from a CD attached to a computer magazine.
At 4% adoption, we’re aligned with New Year’s Eve 2000. A time when the world was terrified of leaving their PC on as the clocks struck twelve, save the Millennium Bug would destroy humanity.
Nokia 3210s filled the streets and classrooms, basic images loaded line by line, downloading an album took all day, and searches were performed by an online butler named Jeeves. A lot has changed with the Internet since then, and a lot still needs to change with Bitcoin integration if we are to continue to chart the same path.
Some in the Las Vegas crowd may feel like the latecomers. Statistically, they’re still early adopters.
Wall Street buys, but Main Street doesn’t use
The crypto narrative increasingly hinges on institutional participation. Since the SEC’s ETF approvals in early 2024, over $44 billion has poured into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs. Pension funds, asset managers, and family offices have all allocated bitcoin as a portfolio hedge.
Yet Bitcoin’s everyday utility hasn’t budged. Daily active addresses have dropped to near 700,000, after hitting a peak of 1.1 million in 2021. While TradFi money has legitimized BTC as an asset class, it has not translated into broader transactional use. Ross Ulbricht’s presence, celebrated for Bitcoin’s rebel roots, juxtaposed the contrast between Bitcoin as a political tool and as an institutional commodity.
What’s still holding Bitcoin back
Despite its growing visibility, Bitcoin faces major obstacles on the road to mass adoption:
- Clunky UX: Setting up a wallet or managing a seed phrase remains unintuitive. One mistake can mean permanent loss.
- High Entry Friction: Micro-onramps sound ideal for underserved users, but exchange fees, regulatory checks, and slow transaction times dampen the experience.
- Unclear Regulation: ETFs have brought legitimacy, but fragmented global policies around wallets, mining, and commerce introduce confusion and risk.
- Low Cultural Fluency: Even in digital-first societies, Bitcoin is viewed more as a speculative asset than a tool for payments or savings.
The building blocks are there
Several initiatives are laying the groundwork for broader utility:
| Frontier | What’s Happening | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Layer 2 Scaling | Lightning capacity exceeds 4,000 BTC, yet most apps remain in beta or limited use. | For Bitcoin to work at scale, it must be cheap and fast. |
| Stable-Value Rails | Projects aim to route stablecoins through Bitcoin’s infrastructure. | Enables low-volatility usage without abandoning decentralization. |
| Developer Tooling | Platforms like Fedimint and Nostr-Zaps are reducing the barrier to building Bitcoin-native features. | A richer app ecosystem drives real-world use. |
| On-Chain Identity | Various tools offer reusable payment endpoints with built-in privacy. | Makes remittances, payroll, and commerce less fragile. |
“Bitcoin is no longer niche,” said WisdomTree analyst Dovile Silenskyte in January. That may be true in capital markets, but it’s not yet reflected in how people use money. At over $100,000 per BTC, the price of one coin now surpasses the average American household’s net worth (excluding home equity). As Bitcoin becomes more collectible, it risks becoming less usable, unless layer-two solutions and broader access reverse that trajectory.
A reality-check agenda for the Bitcoin era
To convert hype into actual financial inclusion, Bitcoin advocates should recalibrate around:
- Use-Cases First: Highlight real-world examples like freelance income in Argentina or Lightning remittances in East Africa, not just ETF inflows or celebrity endorsements.
- Meaningful Metrics: Adoption isn’t measured in market cap. Track metrics like active wallet usage, Lightning liquidity, and merchant integration.
- Design for the Edges: The most critical users live in unstable economies with poor banking access. Bitcoin’s promise is tested here, not at Vegas galas.
- Policy Clarity: Regulatory consistency matters more than political theater. Frameworks like Europe’s MiCA or targeted mining incentives can spur adoption.
The work starts after the fireworks
Bitcoin’s breakout moment may have arrived in headlines and hedge funds, but the true test lies ahead. Just as the Internet’s promise in the 1990s didn’t materialize until the 2000s brought mobile phones, broadband, and user-friendly apps, Bitcoin’s global impact will depend on what comes after the hype.
Total wallets continue to rise, but Lightning usage, active wallets, and daily on-chain traders have failed to regain their all-time highs. The price is elevated, but on-chain usage is not. We cannot be complacent and claim victory when the battle is far from won.
So, party like it’s 1999 and celebrate $100k Bitcoin. But, it took smartphones, particularly the iPhone, for internet adoption to maintain its momentum. What equivalent innovation is happening in Bitcoin?
The Las Vegas summit was a celebration. But the revolution, in payments, savings, remittances, and financial sovereignty, won’t be televised. It’ll be built. Quietly. Brick by brick.
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