alt Hacker NewsI'd argue the crypto bubble did pop.
Bitcoin/crypto doesn't have earnings reports, but many crypto-adjacent companies have crashed down to earth. It would have been worse but regulation, or sometimes lack thereof, stopped them from going public so the bleeding was limited.
I would consider a "popping" event to be a dramatic one that sends unemployment to record highs, and regular people are panicking, and losing their savings or mortgages.
The Bitcoin bubble, if anything, deflated. But I'd still disagree with this characterisation because the market capitalisation of Bitcoin only seems to be going up.
Going by the logic of supply and demand, as more and more Bitcoin is mined, the price should drop because there's more availability. But what I've observed is the value has been climbing over the past few years, and remained relatively stable.
In any case, it's hard to argue that more people are using Bitcoin and crypto now compared to 5 years ago. Sure, NFTs ended up fizzling out, but, to be honest, they were a stupid idea from the beginning, anyway.