Milk Road Macro Is This Macro Environment Breaking Crypto or Forcing It to Grow Up? w/ Bart Smith
Dec 16, 2025
Bart Smith, an investment professional and CEO of Avalanche Treasury Company, dives into the macro forces shaping crypto's future. He argues that crypto's struggles are influenced more by liquidity and geopolitics than technology. Discussing Bitcoin's dual identity as digital gold and a risk asset, he highlights 2026 as a critical year for adoption. Bart emphasizes the need for altcoins to present clearer value and explores how regulatory clarity could attract institutional interest, showcasing a divergence between retail and institutional sentiments.
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Macro Still Runs Crypto
- Crypto remains primarily driven by macro headlines and liquidity, unlike concentrated tech-driven stock gains.
- Bart Smith expects 2026 will provide the macro runway to demonstrate on-chain progress to institutions.
Bitcoin As Digital Gold
- Bart Smith classifies Bitcoin as digital gold despite its youth and volatility.
- He says Bitcoin is reflexive and liquidity-sensitive, so Fed and government actions matter a lot.
Whale Selling Reflects Reallocation
- Large long-term holders selling is partly redistribution, not pure capitulation.
- Some movement reflects transfers into corporate treasuries and diversification into other sectors like AI.