Seven cycles in, "this time is different" is becoming a structural argument

We are, by most counts, in the seventh distinct boom-bust cycle in cryptocurrency markets since Bitcoin’s first significant price run in 2011. Each cycle has had its own narrative — digital gold, smart contracts, DeFi, NFTs, institutional adoption, ETF legitimisation. Each narrative has attracted capital. Each has, in varying degrees and timeframes, disappointed the specific promises made to attract that capital.

I want to be precise about what I am and am not arguing. I am not arguing that cryptocurrency has no value. I am arguing that the pattern of argument — “this time, the technology is mature enough / the regulation is clear enough / the institutions are committed enough” — has now repeated sufficiently often that it deserves to be treated as a genre, not a thesis.