Crypto spikes the football this Thanksgiving as diehards prep their “I told you so”

Crypto’s true believers are gearing up to take a victory lap around the Thanksgiving table. 

In posts on X and crypto subreddits, investors and self-described “degens” are sharing memes and GIFs imagining the (presumably) warm welcome they’ll receive from family this holiday weekend. 

Following several difficult years that saw crypto winter tank prices — and the fall of FTX — lots of long-term “HODLers” say that now, on the heels of bitcoin’s record-smashing month, is their time. And, crucially, they say that Thanksgiving is the perfect opportunity to remind everyone just how right they’ve been about crypto. 

“Last time I talked to my Aunt and Uncle about Bitcoin they told me it was a bad idea and that their son in law said ‘stay away,’” one person wrote on the bitcoin subreddit. “That was December 2017. I’m going to see them all next week.”

Since last Thanksgiving, bitcoin is up 157%, ethereum 75%, dogecoin 410%, shiba inu 206%, cardano 163%, and Solana 316%. By comparison, the S&P 500 is up 32% in the past year and the Nasdaq 34%.

Some pro-crypto posters imagine their convos will be the sweetest part of the meal. That’s especially true when it comes to family members who mocked or doubted their crypto faith, or who simply didn’t listen when they were told to invest in bitcoin last year. Bitcoin sits at about $96,000 at this writing; last T-Day it was about $37,000.

That President-elect Trump’s admin is expected to be pro-crypto, and industry antagonist SEC Chair Gensler plans to resign, only adds to the optimism. The only direction from here is up, the thinking online goes. (Of course, there’s no guarantee the recent rally in crypto prices will continue.)

Then there are the traders who say they’ve opted for the “show don’t tell” route, saying they’ve paid for an overseas Thanksgiving vacation for their entire family with crypto gains. 

Patrick Gruhn, former head of now defunct FTX Europe and founder of Perpetuals.com, told Sherwood News that “this year is a moment for me,” following a wild ride of market fluctuations and valuable lessons. 

“Thanksgiving season promises to bring about intriguing discussions about crypto this year,” Gruhn said. “The discussions I’m engaged in now seem realistic and thoughtful compared to the previous overly enthusiastic conversations. That’s a reason to celebrate and boast about. At the same time, while enjoying a delicious slice of pie!”

So yes, some crypto investors have a lot to be grateful for. But while the level of crypto gloating may set records, experts don’t expect to see trading spike over the Thanksgiving weekend. 

Phillip Shoemaker, executive director of Identity.com, a nonprofit providing decentralized identity verification, said that overall there is reduced crypto trading volume every year during Thanksgiving. 

“People are taking time off,” he said. “Volatility tends to spike, too, and the market becomes erratic because people aren’t all in on trading during that time.” 

But there’s no time off for bragging, and the bulls are all in, whether grandma’s china sets are out or not. 

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy is a financial journalist who’s written for Dow Jones, The Financial Times Group, and Business Insider, among others.