Crypto panic erupts as Ripple executive slams Bitcoin as a technological dead end

Fear has taken hold of the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin is sitting near $67,000, well below where it stood late last year, and a closely watched sentiment tracker is flashing some of its most alarming readings on record.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which pulls together data from trading volumes, price swings, social media activity, market momentum, and Bitcoin’s share of the overall crypto market, has dropped to somewhere between 5 and 8 in recent days. Numbers that low are rare.

The last time readings were this bleak was during some of the worst crashes the crypto market has ever seen.

A crypto veteran calls Bitcoin a dead end

While ordinary investors are running scared, a well-known figure in the blockchain world has added fuel to the fire with some sharp words about Bitcoin’s future.

David Schwartz, who served as chief technology officer at Ripple and co-designed the XRP Ledger, said he has no interest in contributing to Bitcoin’s development. His reason? He thinks Bitcoin is basically a dead end from a technology standpoint.

He drew a comparison to the regular US dollar, arguing that Bitcoin stays on top not because the people behind it are constantly improving the technology, but because people trust they’ll be able to hold onto it and move it around whenever they want.

“For 99% of what makes Bitcoin interesting, all the blockchain needs to be able to do is allow people to rely on being able to hold and transfer Bitcoin in the future,” Schwartz wrote in posts on X.

He did leave some room for the idea that change might eventually be unavoidable. One scenario he pointed to was quantum computing. If Bitcoin doesn’t update its code to defend against that kind of threat, a process that would require a hard fork, meaning a significant and divisive change to the network, it could be in serious trouble.

“I guess that will be at least one case where technological changes will be necessary, or Bitcoin will collapse,” he said.

Schwartz’s comments land in familiar territory for anyone who has followed Bitcoin criticism over the years. Many skeptics have long argued that Bitcoin’s staying power comes from its brand, the size of its network, and speculative interest, not from any real technical progress. Coming from someone who built a rival system with a focus on speed and practical use, his words carry a certain weight.

JPMorgan sees a steadier road ahead

However, not everyone is gloomy. Over at JPMorgan, strategists are taking a more upbeat view of where crypto is headed for the rest of 2026 and beyond. A team led by analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou put out a report stating that they expect money to start flowing back into digital assets.

The difference this time around, they say, is that the push will come from big institutions rather than regular retail investors or companies building up Bitcoin reserves. That kind of money tends to be more steady, which could make for a less chaotic cycle than what markets have seen before.

The JPMorgan team also highlighted something worth watching on the mining side. It now costs roughly $77,000 to produce one Bitcoin. Since the price is currently sitting below that level, the most expensive miners are under real pressure. If enough of them shut down, the network becomes easier to mine, costs drop, and the market finds a new floor, a kind of built-in correction that Bitcoin has gone through before.

The analysts also noted that Bitcoin is holding its ground reasonably well compared to gold, even though gold has been outperforming lately. On the regulatory front, potential legislation like the Clarity Act could open the door for more institutional money to come in, which JPMorgan sees as a meaningful boost.

So Bitcoin finds itself in a strange place right now. A respected technology builder says it has nowhere left to grow. Meanwhile, one of the biggest banks in the world says the sell-off may not last. The market sits somewhere in between, waiting to see which side turns out to be right.