The central debate has shifted from whether bitcoin can survive to if it can function as a sovereign reserve asset, as critics assess it by institutional standards.
The network's co-founder says many blockchains pitching financial rails lack the activity to justify their valuations, and stablecoins still lack true product-market fit.
Brazil and Argentina are leading the growth, with Brazil dominating by transaction size and Argentina seeing increasing adoption driven by cross-border payments and stablecoin use.
The executive order to build President Donald Trump's Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has awaited congressional action, and sources say there's one idea left for 2026.
Most majors gave back Friday's gains, with solana down 4%, ether falling 4.4%, and 43% of bitcoin's supply now sitting at a loss according to Glassnode data.