This Year, the Commons Feels Different

This year, the Commons feels different — not because bitcoiners have changed, but because the world around them has. The mood is bullish.

This year, the Commons feels different — not because bitcoiners have changed, but because the world around them has. The mood is bullish. Strategic. Triumphant, even.

After years of a bear market and regulatory pressure, bitcoiners are finally seeing the fruits of their labor come to fruition. The price of bitcoin is now in the mid $70,000s, having surged to an all-time high of nearly $110,000 in January to coincide with Trump's inauguration. By early April, it had fallen to the low $70,000s before rebounding to nearly $85,000 as of Saturday morning — volatility that is a testament to the market's sensitivity to political developments and investor sentiment.

Just a year ago, the vibe in the Commons was one of caution. Even bitcoin — the asset that is largely spared by securities law — felt the chill of an aggressive regulatory regime. Developers were being arrested around the world. Wallet providers were being pressured. Open-source projects landed on sanctions lists. The question then was, who would be next?

“Last year at this time, the mood was very bleak. We were in the midst of a regulatory crackdown. We had the DEFI community being targeted, and there was a sense of hopelessness,” said Suman, a bitcoin maximalist and community member since 2013.

But this year, there's a newfound optimism in the air. Trump has returned to the White House and brought with him a full-court press of pro-bitcoin policy moves. Within his first 100 days, he'd pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and three co-founders of the BitMEX crypto exchange, established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and appointed a "crypto czar" to oversee the federal government's digital asset efforts. Even skeptics found themselves nodding.

“I was in Nashville when Trump spoke,” Suman recalled of the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Tennessee, where Trump made his first major address to the crypto industry. “I wasn't planning on going. But you know, when someone like that is in town, you go see it.”

Suman says he feels Trump has delivered on his promises to the crypto community for the most part. Still, he remains cautious.

“I am not one who embraces politicians,” Suman said. “I'm kind of apolitical as far as which side. So I only trust them until I see how it's actually playing out in our life. So far, I think it's going well, but it could really change.”