It was Halloween day, October 31, 2008. The world was still reeling from the financial crash. Lehman Brothers had collapsed, credit markets had frozen, and the panic had already decided the outcome of the coming presidential election.
The world’s attention was on Wall Street. Few noticed the small post that appeared that afternoon on a cryptography mailing list hosted at metzdowd.com. The author, using the name Satoshi Nakamoto, shared a nine-page paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.” It described a way to move money without banks, governments, or intermediaries, a network secured not by trust but by code.
Satoshi Nakamoto is perhaps the most famous anonymous person of this century. No one knows his face, his name, or where he came from. Yet the system he designed has changed the world. For good or ill, Bitcoin has become the most consequential invention in recent decades.
Seventeen years later, that idea still runs, block after block, minute after minute, without pause or permission. Even the Treasury Secretary has taken notice. “Bitcoin never shuts down,” Scott Bessent wrote on X on Friday, adding that Washington could learn something from that.
New TIPP polling suggests Americans have learned something, too.
Favorability And Adoption
A TIPP Poll of 1,418 Americans completed on Friday shows that one in three (33%) view Bitcoin favorably. Roughly half remain neutral or negative, but the deep hostility that once surrounded crypto is easing.
About 16% of adults report owning Bitcoin either directly or through an ETF, and another 14% say they plan to buy within six months. Among investors, ownership reaches 37%, and another 19% plan to purchase it soon.
The Republican Party has found a new voter segment in crypto owners. The constituency is energized under President Trump’s pro-innovation stance.
Americans may still debate its value, yet they increasingly acknowledge its permanence. The curiosity is growing. The contempt is gone.
Explore The Prescient Series, a collection of TIPP editorials that anticipates major shifts in markets and policy. Read The Great Repricing, As a Man Thinketh, and The Great Gold Rush.
Confidence Holds Steady
Confidence in Bitcoin’s future remains firm. TIPP has developed the Crypto Confidence Index to track sentiment toward digital assets on a monthly basis. The Index consists of three components: ownership, confidence, and favorability; each is measured on a 0-to-100 scale, with 50 representing the neutral mark.
The TIPP Crypto Confidence Index currently stands at 35.3. It is below neutral, but has remained remarkably stable in recent months. Waves of euphoria and fear around the digital medium no longer sweep Americans; the mood has settled. Notably, Bitcoin’s price has held above $100,000 for more than 175 consecutive days, another sign of endurance in both the market and the minds of its supporters.
More than half of investors (53%) express confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term potential as a store of value. Among the general public, skepticism persists. People may not buy Bitcoin, yet they now believe it will endure.
The latest TIPP Crypto Confidence Index data reveal sharp contrasts beneath the national averages. Confidence runs strongest among younger adults, higher-income households, investors, and conservatives, while it remains weakest among liberals, women, and seniors. The table below shows how different demographic groups compare on the three-month average index.
That confidence also shows up in market behavior. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) tells a deeper story. When the SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, few expected what followed. Within weeks, IBIT drew billions in inflows from ordinary investors buying Bitcoin through their regular brokerage accounts.
Today, IBIT manages about $90 billion, with Bitcoin near $108,000 and a market value of $2.25 trillion. That quiet persistence has moved from code to institutions.
TIPP Insights is the only American pollster to call six consecutive elections accurately. The only newsroom with data-driven coverage of crypto, China, Russia, and AI. Subscribe and support independent journalism for $99 a year.
The Enduring Idea
Seventeen years after Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper, Bitcoin no longer needs to prove itself. It simply exists every second of every day, unbothered by politics or policy. Its endurance is the point.
When even the Treasury Secretary nods to that resilience, something has shifted. What began as a manifesto has become an institution, not through decree or regulation, but through time and faith.
TIPP polling shows the same quiet truth: Americans may question its price, but they no longer question its permanence. The skeptics have softened. The believers remain.
Satoshi smiles, not in triumph but in vindication. The code still runs. The faith endures.
🧠 TIPP Investing Weekly
Week Ending: October 31, 2025
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Avidity Biosciences develops Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates™, a new class of targeted genetic therapies. Its lead drug, AOC 1001, targets myotonic dystrophy type 1, with additional programs for muscle and neuromuscular diseases. The company is based in San Diego.
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📈 ETF to Watch: URNJ
The Sprott Junior Uranium Miners ETF tracks the Nasdaq Sprott Junior Uranium Miners Index, focusing on mid-, small-, and micro-cap companies in the uranium mining sector
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