They wrote the obituary again. This time it was Jason Calacanis — angel investor, All-In podcast co-host, San Francisco royalty — posting a one-year chart of Bitcoin down 30.75 percent with a cat emoji in the middle and the caption: “the dead cat continues to bounce.”
He posted it right as Bitcoin was punching through $81,000.
Calacanis wasn’t just calling the price. He delivered a verdict on the entire asset: “It’s a boring store of value, trusted as that… Institutions took BTC from punk rock to Muzak, and advocates went from pirates to suits in orange ties, awkwardly sharing cringe memes. If Bitcoin were going to reach mass adoption and an important use case, it would have by now.” He compared Bitcoin to CDs in the age of Spotify and DVDs in the age of Netflix.
The market answered before the ink dried. The same week the “dead cat” was being eulogized, it liquidated over $445 million in short positions across the crypto market — roughly $230 million of it in Bitcoin shorts alone. Bitcoin closed the week above $80,000 and cleared $81,000 — the full reclaim story is here. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $433 million on Friday, led by Fidelity’s FBTC at $311 million and BlackRock’s IBIT at $108 million. IBIT flipped from $450 million and $296 million in outflows on Tuesday and Wednesday to a $183.7 million inflow on Thursday. The “dumb money” sold. The institutions bought. The dead cat, apparently, has nine lives.
Michael Saylor answered three hours later: “Jason, you’ve watched bitcoin grow since 2011. It’s now a $1.6 trillion success and the world’s most valuable digital asset. Preserving wealth across generations is a bigger ambition than entertaining a dinner party. The orange tie stays.” The reply drew more than 7,600 likes — roughly 4.6 times the original insult. Strategy holds 845,050 Bitcoin. The “suits in orange ties” jab was never going to go unanswered.
Cathie Wood jumped in too: “Bitcoin is not a dead cat, Jason! It has many lives ahead.” She called Bitcoin “a hedge against deflation” — AI is highly deflationary, real GDP growth could accelerate to 7 or 8 percent, rates will rise, counterparty risk explodes, and banks with exposure “could be in question.” No counterparty risk, she says. Bitcoin is the answer.
Here’s the part Calacanis didn’t post — and Wood didn’t either: ARK Invest, Wood’s own firm, sold more than 1.5 million shares of its own ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) on Monday, worth about $40 million, through its ARK Next Generation Internet and ARK Fintech Innovation ETFs. It was the week’s biggest trade by volume as of Friday morning. The same day, ARK trimmed Coinbase, Circle, and Bitmine too. Days after the dump, Wood was on X telling retail Bitcoin “has many lives ahead.” It’s the second time this month: she already dumped $65 million of her own crypto stakes right before the Senate vote. The bull market is always alive — just apparently not for her portfolio.
The irony keeps stacking. Calacanis bragged in March that Bittensor’s TAO was his “200x” bet. TAO is down about 24 percent since. Bitcoin: up 15 percent. The man calling Bitcoin a failed asset is 0-for-1 on his own picks. Investor Fred Krueger had the cleanest retort: “This is not a dead cat bounce.” The last bull market started in December 2022 and ended eleven months ago at 7.3x.
Them vs. us: A billionaire called your savings a zombie on X. The market punished $445 million of people who agreed with him. The “bulls” who defended Bitcoin publicly were quietly selling their own ETF the week before. Nobody in that thread had your back — not the dead cat caller, not the suits in orange ties, not the ETF managers trimming in the dark. The only financial opinion that matters is yours, and it starts with your key.
Love Is Bitcoin Takeaway: Every cycle the same script: an influential person declares Bitcoin dead, the market proves them wrong, and the commentators profit either way. You don’t need their permission and you don’t need their ETF. Buy, hold, and self-custody your own coins. Get your Bitcoin from a platform that respects self-custody: https://loveisbitcoin.com/bull — use coupon code LOVEISBITCOIN.
So whose advice were you trading on this week — the man who called your asset a dead cat, or the woman who sold her own Bitcoin ETF four days before defending it?
Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. Do your own research before making any investment decisions.
Sources: Nostr Magazine W38 weekly digest (Sep 20), Bitcoin.com News (Sep 20), Stocktwits (Sep 19), U.Today/TradingView, LCX.
'THE DEAD CAT CONTINUES TO BOUNCE' — SAID THE MAN WHOSE 200X PICK CRASHED 24%. THE CAT JUST ATE $445 MILLION OF SHORTS
