Podcast Summary

The Wolf Of All Streets – “Why This Bitcoin Crash Is Actually Bullish”

Host: Scott Melker
Guest: Anthony Scaramucci
Date: November 23, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Scott Melker welcomes hedge fund veteran and SkyBridge founder Anthony Scaramucci to break down the recent “crash” in bitcoin and altcoins. They discuss why market panic may be unwarranted, how OG whales and leverage contributed, the true institutional adoption story, and why this correction may be fundamentally bullish. The conversation covers market psychology, policy headwinds, the evolution of stablecoins, and the future of altcoins and tokenization—with Mooch’s signature market wisdom, candor, and metaphor-rich style.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Caused the Bitcoin Meltdown?

• OG (Original Gangster) sellers: Long-term holders, compared to VCs at IPO lock-up expiry, cashed out Bitcoin for yachts, sports teams, etc. This is fundamentally healthy for the market, as it diversifies ownership.
  “You want less concentration of ownership in bitcoin and more diversity. And I think we’re getting that.” — Scaramucci [00:20]
• Leverage and Deleveraging: The market was over-levered. A geopolitical shock (Trump’s “China tweet” over rare earths) triggered a “liquidation cascade.”
  “When you have too much leverage in the system, you had the massive deleveraging.” — Scaramucci [00:52]
• Systematic liquidations: Following TradFi-linked losses, a systematic clearing out of inventory occurred, causing further negative pressure.

2. Why This is Bullish, Not Bearish

• Textbook correction: Scaramucci describes the event as a “garden variety bitcoin correction.” The drama is unpleasant, but the cleansing, especially the clearing of speculative excess, is constructive.
• Long-term value remains: Despite recent pain, the long-term bitcoin upside is enormous.
  “If you and I were on this program together… in January of 2023... this sixteen thousand dollar Bitcoin... is going to be eighty four thousand... I would have given at least one testicle for that, possibly two and a kidney.” — Scaramucci [07:54]

3. Psychology and Loss Aversion

• Pain of drawdowns: Most retail participants anchor on their portfolio's all-time high rather than measuring growth from initial investment.
  “Most people say they lost 50%, not that they made a 5X. So I think for some reason it’s just so painful for people.” — Melker [09:36]
• Advice: Use downswings as opportunities instead of panic.

4. Institutional Adoption and Structural Supply Shock

• Institutional allocation is real:
  “Digital assets are becoming a core institutional allocation. That is happening.” — Scaramucci [03:36]
• Tokenization as future financial rails: BlackRock, Fink, and others are bullish on the blockchain as financial infrastructure.
• Bitcoin supply shock:
  “The supply shock in Bitcoin in my opinion is now structural… ETFs are being bought by sovereigns... The halving... will also help the supply curve.” — Scaramucci [04:40]

5. Regulation, Gensler, and Crypto's Cleansing

• Regulatory delays helped:
  “We might still be living in an FTX world if we got the cash bitcoin ETF on time. Weirdly, [Gensler] opened up a fissure and all of these over levered or these corrupt companies imploded…” — Scaramucci [10:56]
• Bipartisan tailwinds stunted by meme coin politics: Trump’s foray into meme coins worsened altcoin chaos and made the regulatory environment more partisan.

6. Macro Context: Fear Index, The Fourth Turning, and Bitcoin as Hedge

• Market fear at record lows despite new highs: S&P “fear and greed” index at historic lows; aggregate fear (stocks & crypto) is “14.”
• Fourth Turning theory: Current turbulence is part of a recurring historical pattern, but exponential tech innovation could “outmatch policy missteps.”
  “One thing that the fourth turning doesn’t fully factor is the exponential rise of technology and the exponential enhancement of productivity as a result.” — Scaramucci [18:23]
• Bitcoin as hard currency in the age of fiat debasement:
  “Drunk driving central bankers... have run our currencies off the road. And now we can have a robot which is a software base of this technology that can offer us a hard currency solution for all of our policy mistakes.” — Scaramucci [18:23]

7. Institutional Converts and the “Debasement Trade”

• Old guard (Paul Tudor Jones, Ken Griffin, Larry Fink, Druckenmiller) now own and publicly advocate for bitcoin as fiat debasement accelerates, after years of skepticism.
• Quote: “The smartest people I know in the hedge fund community have some exposure to it.” — Scaramucci [26:31]

8. Altcoin Carnage: Utility as the Path Forward

• Slaughterhouse for altcoins: Many tokens are back to FTX-crisis prices or worse.
• Utility is the binary: Survival and recovery depend on genuine utility—examples: Solana, Sui, Avalanche, TON.
• No more indiscriminate “alt seasons”:
  “No, throw a dart and your altcoin goes up kind of alt seasons anymore in the future.” — Melker [33:58]

9. Positioning and the Future of Digital Assets

• Staking yield as lifeblood: Larger layer-1s (Solana, Avalanche, Ethereum) offer staking, boosting tokenomics.
• Digital asset treasury companies: May return in new forms, but patience and a private equity-like outlook required.
• “Five-year” horizon: Long-term view is essential for both bitcoin and quality altcoins.
  “If you’re not taking a five year position on a DAT and treating it like private equity, you’re not looking at it the right way.” — Scaramucci [36:07]

10. Stablecoins, Interoperability, and Big Tech

• Private stablecoins’ future: Comparing Tether, Circle, and Coinbase to early web search engines (Yahoo, AOL, AltaVista), Mooch expects consolidation, new banks issuing stablecoins, and interoperability across chains.
  “Why couldn’t we have Solana based, Ethereum based, avalanche based, stable coins that are interoperable?” — Scaramucci [44:09]
• Survival will depend on adaptation: When interest rates fall, stablecoin issuers must innovate or be replaced.

11. Price Predictions & Market Cycles

• Mooch was early and “wrong” on price timing predictions (e.g., $100,000 bitcoin by March), but trajectory remains the same.
• Current target: $150,000 for bitcoin; $500,000-$1M coin "not crazy."
• Other big coins (ETH, SOL, AVAX) have room to run in the right scenario.

12. Scaramucci's New Book on Solana

• Mooch just published a 200-page book on Solana, based on extensive interviews and research, meant to help “old fogies” understand new blockchain infrastructure.
  “It takes an old fogey to educate an old fogey.” — Scaramucci [52:19]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You want less concentration of ownership in bitcoin and more diversity, and I think we're getting that.” — Scaramucci [00:20]
• “This implosion, I will submit to you, Scott, is much better for us than people think.” — Scaramucci [01:15]
• “I would have given at least one testicle for that, possibly two and a kidney.” — Scaramucci, on bitcoin’s price rise since 2023 [07:54]
• “Most people say they lost 50%, not that they made a 5X.” — Melker [09:36]
• “If you miss the ten best days of the asset, you miss all the returns.” — Scaramucci [16:38]
• “The beauty of bitcoin is you don't be by relying on nobody…” — Scaramucci on decentralization [19:56]
• “Gold is old. If you're a 100-year-old fossil, okay, you're buying gold, you're not buying bitcoin.” — Scaramucci [21:51]
• “Deficit spending is unfunded tax liability… The way we’re going to pay it back is through... inflation.” — Scaramucci [23:04]
• “It's a garden variety bitcoin correction. The altcoin stuff is separate.” — Scaramucci [03:10]
• “If you’re not taking a five year position on a DAT and treating it like private equity, you’re not looking at it the right way.” — Scaramucci [36:07]
• “Stablecoin future will not be dominated by the current players.” – Paraphrased Scaramucci [44:09]
• "Bitcoin doesn't care about your price prediction and doesn't care about what you and I think. And it's certainly not tied to the calendar." — Scaramucci [48:54]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Causes of the crash: [00:20] – [01:37]
• Panic vs. perspective: [07:54] – [10:06]
• Why this is bullish: [10:56], [12:56]
• Institutional adoption: [03:36] – [04:40]
• Market psychology and advice: [09:36] – [11:00]
• Federal Reserve, macro fear, and fourth turning: [14:10] – [18:23]
• Bitcoin as hard currency: [19:56] – [23:04]
• Institutional converts: [24:14] – [27:26]
• Altcoin market and surviving utility: [30:25] – [33:58]
• Stablecoins and future rails: [42:50] – [44:43]
• Price targets and cycles: [48:28] – [50:44]
• Scaramucci’s new Solana book: [50:47] – [52:32]

Concluding Takeaways

• The recent crash is viewed as natural and ultimately beneficial, purging excess, enabling wider and healthier distribution.
• Bitcoin’s fundamental story—network security, scarcity, growing institutional embrace—remains strong; altcoin pain is real but a few networks with genuine utility will survive and thrive.
• Political and regulatory uncertainty have caused angst but also accidentally cleaned house.
• The future is tokenized, with staked assets, stablecoins, and interoperability at the center. Adaptation is survival.
• Market participants should zoom out, ignore daily noise, and focus on long-term network adoption and use.