Crypto is having a moment, but is it the one we want?

NETWORK UPDATES

Crypto’s culture war is in full swing. Memecoins tied to political figures are pumping, the Ethereum Foundation is in flux, and Ross Ulbricht’s clemency is back in the spotlight. Meanwhile, OGs are asking: Has crypto lost its soul? This month, we’re diving into the tension between speculation and substance—and how Threshold is helping build a future that stays true to first principles.

Table of Contents

• NETWORK UPDATES

  • Crypto is having a moment, but is it the one we wa …

  • Threshold DAO Spotlight on Digital Cash Rundown

• AROUND THE DAO

  • TIP-095. “Improve DAO Multisig Management.” (forum …

• INTERACT WITH THRESHOLDERS

• ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Crypto is having a moment, but is it the one we want?

I’ve been in this space long enough to know that when crypto is in the headlines every day, it’s either on the brink of leveling up—or toppling over. Right now, it feels like both. It’s all happening at once: memecoins tied to political figures, whispers of clemency for a legendary prisoner of the War on Drugs, and leadership shake-ups at one of crypto’s biggest foundational players. So, as we’re basking in the spotlight, we should ask: Is this truly our moment, or have we drifted so far from our roots that we barely recognize ourselves?

Trump’s Shitcoinery and the Meme Economy

First up: $TRUMP and $MELANIA coins. If you’ve been spared the details, allow me to fill you in. These coins sprang up overnight and soared in value on hype alone—no real utility, just the gravitational pull of Donald Trump’s brand and pop culture mania. If it sounds ridiculous, well, that’s because it is (WSJ).

But let’s not dismiss it outright. These memecoins represent a broader phenomenon: the tension between crypto’s original ideals and its capacity for hype-driven mania. The same technology that can secure someone’s wealth from oppressive regimes can also be used to spin up questionable tokens that feed on celebrity worship. Cue the facepalms from OG cypherpunks, who rightly see $TRUMP coin as yet another carnival ride overshadowing the big-picture potential of decentralized technology (Business Insider).

The Freed Ross Bombshell

On the more serious side of the emotional scale, there’s the renewed hope around Ross Ulbricht’s clemency (NYPost). For many, Ross’s story crystallizes why we started caring about crypto in the first place: the belief in personal agency, censorship resistance, and technological empowerment. If Ross’s potential freedom signals a win for these core values, it’s a reminder that—despite the dog-and-pony show of memecoins—the fight for true freedom is ongoing, and it matters.

This is the paradox of blockchain tech, isn’t it? The $TRUMP meme hustle and Ross’s clemency underscore the same truth: crypto is a neutral tool. It can be deployed for sideshows or for serious, life-altering change. If we want more of the latter and less of the former, it’s on us to steer the conversation.

Ethereum Foundation Turmoil

Meanwhile, the Ethereum Foundation grapples with leadership restructuring that offers a glimpse into the challenges of decentralized governance at scale (CryptoBriefing). Ethereum has grown from a small group of true believers into a behemoth—complete with global conferences, big-name partnerships, and more existential demands on how decisions get made. If even the “world computer” folks aren’t sure how to preserve their original vision while tackling massive growth, you can bet this problem is universal.

Crypto used to be a scrappy underdog. Now it’s a massively expanding ecosystem with real social, financial, and political stakes. Maintaining the original ethos in that environment? It’s like juggling grenades. It can be done, but it demands hyper-focus—and a willingness to call out complacency and compromise wherever they show up.

OGs Feeling Lost in the Sauce

I’ve spent countless late-night chats with people who’ve been here since Satoshi was just a pseudonym on a forum. They share a common sentiment: disillusionment. They remember when crypto was about building a parallel financial system and championing personal freedoms, not pumping the next meme coin for clout.

It reminds me of an old internet tale: the “Eternal September.” Back in the ’90s, Usenet was a small, vibrant community of netizens with its own culture and norms. Every September, new college students would hop on and bumble around—annoying the locals until they got with the program. Then AOL arrived in 1993 and unleashed a tidal wave of newbies who never stopped coming. The old guard said that after that point, “September never ended.” The culture was overwhelmed, and much of the original spirit was lost.

Crypto is in its own Eternal September right now, except there’s no single AOL funneling the masses. Each of us is a gateway, whether we realize it or not. You post a bullish tweet? You’re an entry point. You pitch a friend on DeFi over beers? You’re an on-ramp. The difference between crypto and Usenet is that our tech is decentralized and programmable. We don’t have to succumb to the fate of Usenet, where the norms collapsed under the weight of new users. We have a chance—through decentralized structures, collaborative governance, and consistent education—to mold the culture even as it expands beyond our comfort zone.

The Counterpoint: Builders Are Still Building

Despite the noise, there are still plenty of folks keeping their heads down and building the future they always envisioned:

• Threshold Network continues to prioritize censorship-resistant technology, including tBTC for bridging Bitcoin into the world of DeFi without relying on a single point of failure. It’s not flashy in the way a memecoin is flashy, but it’s the kind of foundational infrastructure that quietly safeguards the ethos we claim to care about—self-sovereignty and decentralization.

• Others are developing zero-knowledge proofs for privacy, peer-to-peer marketplaces for direct exchange, and open-source protocols for everything from file storage to identity management. They’re the antidote to meme-driven mania, but they need more than just builders—they need advocates.

Call to Action: Keep the Spirit Alive

So, is this crypto’s Eternal September? Absolutely. But the difference is, we get to decide how it goes from here. We can either lament the influx of new users and watch them flock to the next $TRUMP coin, or we can guide them—show them there’s a deeper reason to be here.

1. Evangelize tBTC & Other Decentralized Tools
   If a newcomer asks, “Where do I start?” don’t just point them at a centralized exchange or the hottest meme coin. Show them how tBTC bridges Bitcoin to Ethereum in a trust-minimized way. Explain why that matters. Make decentralization part of the on-ramp conversation.

2. Be the On-Ramp You Wish You Had
   There’s no single Steve Case hooking the masses into our ecosystem. It’s a one-to-one process, multiplied by millions. Each conversation is a chance to communicate that crypto isn’t just about hype—it’s about a vision for better systems.

3. Speak Up for Original Ideals
   Ross Ulbricht’s potential freedom highlights the stakes of what’s at play here—personal liberties, censorship resistance, and the right to transact without oversight. If we don’t talk about these values, they get drowned out by talk of the next meme pump.

4. Don't Discount the Degens
   We want to remember that where the new folks are coming from are filtering in through the degens and memecoiners. I have spent a lot of time in podcasts and AMAs in these spaces, and they do have a respect for the OGs, but don't have the understanding why first principles are important (or even what many of them are). This is a soft target where we can move the needle.

The Moment Is Ours—Let’s Not Waste It

We’re at a crossroads. On one side, you’ve got the carnival barking and hype overload; on the other, you have real breakthroughs in cryptography and decentralized governance. The Ross Ulbricht story represents a moral pivot—can we stay grounded in issues of freedom and justice, or do we drift off into a sea of trivial speculation? The Ethereum Foundation’s leadership drama reminds us that even dreamers need structure if we’re going to scale. And, of course, Eternal September warns us that once the floodgates open, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle.

But that’s exactly the point: we’re not here to gatekeep. We’re here to educate, to evangelize, and to ensure that the original cypherpunk ethos doesn’t vanish under a heap of worthless memecoins. This is our moment to show the world that crypto is more than just speculation—it’s a transformative technology for financial sovereignty, open innovation, and freedom of expression.

If we do it right, we’ll look back on these headlines—the $TRUMP memecoins, the EF reshuffle, Ross’s clemency—as the catalysts that spurred us to protect the soul of this movement. We’ll say this was the moment we took crypto’s mainstream explosion and built something bigger, bolder, and more equitable than any single company or meme coin could ever promise.

So let’s write the next chapter ourselves. Let’s not be the Usenet crowd that gave up after 1993. Let’s be the ones who used our Eternal September to bring in fresh energy, fresh builders, and fresh believers—and who passed along the spark that started this revolution in the first place.

Threshold DAO Spotlight on Digital Cash Rundown

Threshold DAO was featured on a recent episode of Digital Cash Rundown, with MacLane Wilkinson joining host Joel Valenzuela (a community lead for Dash). Joel, best known as a longstanding crypto advocate who began living entirely off digital currency in 2016, is recognized for landing big names in cypherpunk circles, privacy tech, decentralized finance, and beyond—making it the perfect venue to highlight TBTC’s trust-minimized bridging and the future of decentralized finance.

From the get-go, MacLane takes us on a stroll through his early days in Bitcoin—way back in 2013, when meetups were just a handful of passionate developers riffing on new frontiers in cryptocurrency. As he recounts, it was here he first bonded with a cadre of future heavy-hitters, eventually sparking the creation of NuCypher (a key historical component to Threshold).

Amid chat about threshold cryptography and the synergy between Ethereum and privacy-centric solutions, MacLane reflects on how “Threshold cryptography was always a fundamental piece of the puzzle,” recalling that the impetus was “to handle private or confidential data in a truly decentralized way.”

The conversation naturally flowed to TBTC: a decentralized, permissionless Bitcoin bridge that leverages a network of signers rather than a single, centralized custodian. Joel quizzed MacLane on what “permissionless” truly means; no 150% collateral demands, no exclusive gatekeepers, and how it all ties back to Threshold’s ethos of maximizing trust-minimization. “TBTC replaces that single custodian with a network of signers collectively custodying the Bitcoin using threshold signatures,” said Wilkinson. “You’re not trusting one entity. You’re trusting cryptography and an honest majority.”

Yet the honest-majority model is only the start. The big reveal in the interview was the discussion around BitVM2 and its one-of-N security assumptions—a technical leap forward that MacLane says promises to “replace the honest-majority assumption with a one-of-N approach….” This could usher in the next generation of truly decentralized cross-chain custody, making TBTC vastly more robust. Or in simpler terms: if even just one participant in the system is honest, the Bitcoin behind TBTC stays secure.

Why does that matter? As MacLane put it, “Moving from honest-majority to one-of-N is massive...it’s basically the same security you get with a real L2 for Bitcoin, but without the compromises of centralized custody.” He went on to note that these developments could extend beyond TBTC, potentially serving as a blueprint for bridging any UTXO-based chain into an EVM world without leaning on middlemen.

Throughout the episode, the conversation never strayed far from Threshold’s core theme: enabling privacy, security, and genuine ownership in a time when we’ve seen too many cautionary tales in CeFi. The synergy of threshold cryptography, advanced bridging, and a neutral, stable asset (BTC) becomes especially appealing for an audience used to focusing on privacy. “We don’t want to rely on centralized trust or legal processes. We want something more sovereign and robust,” Wilkinson emphasized.

The segment wrapped up with talk of expansions. Multi-chain direct minting (Arbitrum, Base, and beyond), new integrations in DeFi, and a broadening blueprint for the TBTC ecosystem. But the key idea echoing throughout was the promise BitVM2 holds, especially for a privacy-centric audience eager to eliminate reliance on single points of failure.

The full episode is great, and available on YouTube and Odysee.

AROUND THE DAO

This week’s newsletter is a little long in the tooth, so we’re going to push the longer descriptions of the pending proposals to next week, but here’s a list of what you missed since our last newsletter.

TIP-095. “Improve DAO Multisig Management.” (forum link).

TIP-096. “Mint 5% of T Supply for TVL Growth Milestones.” (forum link).

TIP-097. “Bootstrap Agreement v3.” (forum link).

TIP-098. “The Future of Threshold.” (forum link).

INTERACT WITH THRESHOLDERS

All are meetings are accessible via Discord (except as noted): go to Voice Channels and click on Cryptogarden.

Meeting times can change, so always good to confirm in Events (at the very top of the Discord server’s left navigation).

Marketing Guild weekly call: Tuesdays at 9am EST
Integration Guild weekly call: Tuesdays at 11am EST
Treasury Guild weekly call: Wednesdays at 8am EST
thUSD Steering Committee call: Thursdays at 12pm EST

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Website: Threshold.network

• Threshold dApp: tBTC Dashboard

• Discord: Threshold

• Twitter: Threshold

• Threshold Notion

• Threshold Github

• Threshold Reddit

• Threshold Telegram

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Got thoughts or feedback on the newsletter? Let us know! Take a quick minute to fill out our survey — your insights are invaluable.

Want to dive deeper? Join us on the Threshold Network discord . To become part of the Threshold Marketing Guild, head over to the #claim-a-role channel, click the emoji, and you’ll unlock access to our guild channels. Check out the Integrations and Treasury guilds while you're there!

Feel free to share your ideas, questions, or just say hi—we're all ears!