8/21/25 Roundup: The New Normal of (Upward) Chopsolidation

Bitcoin briefly dipped below $113K this week after touching new ATHs around $124K just seven days ago. For a market that has lived through multiple 80% drawdowns, this is barely a blip. Yet if you scrolled social media, you’d think the sky was falling.

That disconnect is telling. It highlights three important shifts in how we should think about bitcoin "cycles" going forward.

1. Zooming Out

Volatility is relative. Bitcoin’s short-term drawdowns often look catastrophic in isolation, but when measured against its long-term trajectory, they barely register.

Longer-term moving averages remain firmly upward. On a multi-year view, bitcoin has steadily compounded—outpacing equities, bonds, and gold—through a mix of explosive upside and periods of sideways consolidation.