While I agree with the "1 BTC = 1 BTC" message, it tends to oversimplify a lot. There are probably less than 1,000 people in the world who think like that. If we're being realists, BTC's fiat price steers adoption. I have to eventually write an article on this, but TL;DR: - Rising fast (parabolic): pulls in retail, startups, politicians; self-custody curiosity spikes; merchant trials tick up; miners expand; headlines flood. - Rising slowly (orderly): allocators drip into paper wrappers (ETFs, trusts, notes); retail complacent; self-custody flattens; "digital gold" narrative cements. - Sideways/high chop: demoralizes newcomers; keeps maxi zealots only; institutions run carry/arbitrage, not usage. - Sharp crashes: drive capitulation; justify "we need guardrails" laws; push users to custodians; kill merchant/Lightning momentum. Goal if you're the Controllers: maintain containment corridors — enough upside to keep hope & tax receipts, enough draw-downs to prevent broad self-custody or Medium-of-Exchange habits. Price is the billboard; you want the billboard to say "speculative asset — use our rails (stablecoins/CBDCs) for payments".