Podcast Summary: The Wolf Of All Streets
Episode: Bitcoin Dumps Below $90K As Market Sell Off Continues! Where's The Bottom?
Host: Scott Melker
Guests: Andrew, Matt, and Tillman
Date: November 18, 2025
Episode Overview
In this episode, Scott Melker hosts a lively panel discussion with Andrew, Matt, and Tillman to dissect Bitcoin’s plunge below $90,000 amid a broader market selloff. Beyond the numbers, the conversation explores historical context, institutional adoption, market sentiment, volatility, and the ongoing evolution of crypto investment tools. With humor and candor, the group analyzes what sets the current correction apart, trading strategies for turbulent times, and what it takes to survive (and thrive) in crypto’s choppy waters.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. State of the Market: Bitcoin’s Drop and “Everything Correction”
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Opening Scene: Chaos Everywhere
- Bitcoin fell beneath $90,000 to lows around $89,000 ([00:00]), described by Scott as “welcome to hell. Hades is happy to see you” ([01:02]), underscoring the intense panic among investors.
- Not just crypto: S&P futures dropped for a fourth day, major tech stocks and even gold were down hard—“everything’s dead right now” ([02:10], Matt).
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Recency Bias vs. Reality: This Is Not 2022 All Over Again
- Scott points out that while people draw comparisons to the FTX/Celsius/Luna collapses of 2022, today is starkly different: “We literally have nothing but good news and price just happens to be down” ([02:51]).
- Andrew reminds listeners: “2022 we still had Gary Gensler calling crypto scams… The flip side now is we have BlackRock and Fidelity talking about crypto as a meaningful part of overall financial markets.” ([03:25])
2. Volatility: Feature, Not Bug
- Pullbacks Are Normal in Bull Markets
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“This is a pullback on a nice bull cycle… we had two prior [dips] that were 30+ percent. This hadn’t even gotten to those levels.” ([05:41], Tillman).
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As Bitcoin matures, its volatility is slowing but remains higher than most assets: “There are actually… graphs that you can look at … it’s going down over time. That’s a good thing… but still wildly more volatile than most other asset classes.” ([05:41], Tillman)
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Notable Quote:
“If your reaction right now to the price of bitcoin… is it going down to 90? In my opinion, you are by definition overallocated because you have gotten to a point where you don’t have cash. You don’t see this as a buying opportunity.”
— Tillman ([38:57])
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3. Investment Psychologies & Strategies
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Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA): The Boring, Proven Way
- “The mathematical way to [reduce volatility] is to separate your purchases and get price exposure at as many points on that line as possible… That’s what dollar cost averaging is” ([05:41], Tillman).
- Everyone’s tempted to “buy at 6 [the bottom of the clock],” but “you make a lot of money buying at 7 and 8 and selling at 10 and 11. You don't need to buy at 6 and sell at 12 because you don't know when the bottom is.”
— Matt ([41:26])
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Perspective: Most Investors Are Long-term
- Most retirement investors are thinking in terms of “10 years, 20 years” ([17:02], Matt).
- “Our clients… have a long term perspective… Even when I started doing this… I bought bitcoin in my retirement account in 2017. That was $2,500 per BTC… If you think of all the cycles since then… nothing worries me.” ([17:02], Matt)
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Emotional Resilience & Allocation
- “Sell until you can sleep. Which means like you shouldn’t be stressed—you’re overallocated. If you’re stressed out about a dip in your portfolio… keep some powder dry for these moments.”
— Tillman ([38:57])
- “Sell until you can sleep. Which means like you shouldn’t be stressed—you’re overallocated. If you’re stressed out about a dip in your portfolio… keep some powder dry for these moments.”
4. Institutional Adoption & Market Structure Shifts
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The “Larry Fink & BlackRock” Era
- BlackRock’s entrance signals a sea change. “We have the likes of BlackRock and Bitwise talking about bitcoin… being a meaningful part… of financial markets.” ([03:25], Andrew)
- Larry Fink now promotes a 5% portfolio allocation to Bitcoin; even retirement industry conferences are airing his 60 Minutes clips ([12:13], Matt).
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Legacy Market Integration
- “This is the first bull cycle that Wall St. has really gotten to participate in… That presents a tremendous amount of liquidity grab opportunities… In these shakeouts…I think the last one…it was an $18 billion liquidity grab.”
— Tillman ([14:33])
- “This is the first bull cycle that Wall St. has really gotten to participate in… That presents a tremendous amount of liquidity grab opportunities… In these shakeouts…I think the last one…it was an $18 billion liquidity grab.”
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The Coinbase Effect & Product Innovations
- "Brian Armstrong continues to wow me… putting out all these messages since this new ICO launch… It could revolutionize how companies go public overnight.” ([22:36], Tillman)
- Coinbase is positioning itself as the “one-stop-shop” for everything from trading, lending, and yield to IPO-like offerings ([24:26]).
5. Comparative Asset Analysis: Bitcoin vs. Everything
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Crypto vs. Tech Stocks, Gold
- Not only are crypto and tech correcting together—“Gold is down… from all-time highs. A lot of people are buying bitcoin as a store of value play. So that philosophy of why do I own this asset is penetrating these other assets.” ([12:13], Matt)
- On relative value: “Market cap of gold is $28 trillion… Bitcoin’s is at $1.8 trillion… We’d have to 15x Bitcoin to reach gold's market cap… Bitcoin can actually do things for you. Gold just sits there like a pet rock.”
— Tillman ([45:30])
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On Market Psychology & Narrative
- “Doom and gloom sells… CNBC has more viewers in desperate difficult times… I don’t think we’re anywhere near depression or recession.”
— Andrew ([34:25])
- “Doom and gloom sells… CNBC has more viewers in desperate difficult times… I don’t think we’re anywhere near depression or recession.”
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Long-term vs. Short-term Price Obsession
- “Why are people obsessing over the paper value of a portfolio of assets that they weren’t going to sell ever?… You’re not going to sell the top and you’re not going to buy the bottom.”
— Scott ([36:14], [36:41]) - Notable moment: Scott recounts buying Bitcoin all the way down during 2022’s bear market, “I want to do what Sailor does. I’m not going to try to outthink him.” ([38:03])
- “Why are people obsessing over the paper value of a portfolio of assets that they weren’t going to sell ever?… You’re not going to sell the top and you’re not going to buy the bottom.”
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)
- “It is disgusting out there… Cloudflare is down, people can’t go on Twitter, ChatGPT isn’t working. People can’t write love letters to their wives anymore. It’s pure carnage out there.”
— Scott ([01:02]) - “Everything’s dead right now… Meta’s down, Nvidia down 10%, Oracle down 21%, Gold down 10%. Bitcoin goes up the most, so it’ll have the most volatility on the way down, too.”
— Matt ([02:10]) - “Do you think BlackRock's reps are telling Harvard there’s a good chance it’s going to do a 60% dip?”
— Andrew ([11:09]) - On DCA:
“If you’re overallocated, sell until you can sleep.” — Tillman ([38:57]) - “If your reaction right now to the price of bitcoin… is it going down to 90? In my opinion, you are by definition overallocated.”
— Tillman ([38:57]) - On opportunity:
“These dips… are gold mine opportunities. My favorite asset has not changed in character. More infrastructure, more liquidity… I just see nothing but opportunity, honestly.”
— Tillman ([05:41]) - Classic Community Memes:
“Winklevii… said this is last chance to buy Bitcoin under $90,000. A classic meme in the crypto Twitter community.”
— Scott ([20:01]) - On Market Cap Comparison:
“Bitcoin at 6% of what gold’s market cap is… that screams value to me.”
— Tillman ([45:30]) - On crypto investing psychology:
“There are no houses built on peaks of the mountains because there’s no real estate up there. Same with price peaks.”
— Andrew ([dealer’s choice paraphrased between 41:26 and 48:43])
Key Segments & Timestamps
- 00:00–02:10: Introduction, Bitcoin and global market carnage.
- 02:10–05:41: Comparisons with past bear markets, institutional context, ETF flows.
- 05:41–09:56: Volatility, buying dips, DCA as strategy, product innovation in crypto.
- 12:13–14:33: Institutional shift, Larry Fink/BlackRock, regulatory evolution.
- 14:33–17:02: Wall Street’s new role, leverage shakeouts, structural changes.
- 17:02–19:23: Retirement investing, long-term views, client psychology.
- 20:01–22:36: Community sentiment, market bottom predictions, Ethereum optimism, Coinbase’s new role.
- 24:26–28:19: Why exchanges like Coinbase have a leg up, public/private company trends.
- 31:09–32:52: Be greedy when others are fearful, reality of news.
- 34:25–38:03: Media narratives, buy/sell discipline, emotional cycles.
- 38:57–42:06: Over-allocation, safe strategy, “sell until you can sleep,” timing the market.
- 45:30–47:11: Bitcoin vs gold, arguing intrinsic value, store of value debate.
- 52:12–56:17: Automated strategies, ARB algorithms, toolsets for volatility.
- 62:12–63:33: Outro banter, humor, community memes.
Conclusion: Takeaways for Listeners
- Volatility is the norm, not the exception: Don’t expect smooth sailing in crypto, but use proper allocation and tools to ride out the waves.
- This is not 2022: There’s a positive shift: major institutional players, better infrastructure, more mature products, and a supportive legislative environment.
- Long-term conviction wins: Most wealth is built through conviction and strategic, unemotional buying—not perfectly timing tops and bottoms.
- Innovations are creating new on-ramps: Structural and technological advances (especially from companies like Coinbase) are breaking down barriers and providing new avenues for access, liquidity, and yield.
- Emotion control + strategy: Discipline, DCA, and portfolio allocations you can sleep on are keys to surviving crypto corrections.
For Further Learning
- Want to buy crypto tax-free? Check out Matt’s company at cryptocirectedira.com for tools and educational resources ([47:51]).
- Want to automate your trading? The panel lauds Arch Public and related strategies for reducing emotional trading and helping with intelligent, parameter-based accumulation and arbitrage ([52:12]).
This episode is for anyone feeling the market pain, looking for grounded perspective, and eager to hear how top investors and innovators are positioning for the next leg of the crypto journey.
