Markets Outlook (CoinDesk) · Nov 12, 2026 · 37m · 31m saved
With Joe Burnett, VP of Bitcoin Strategy at Strive
Bitcoin has returned close to 0% over the past five years, from about $69,000 at its November 2021 peak to roughly $71,000-$72,000 today. Most investors blame a hiking Fed; Joe Burnett, VP of Bitcoin Strategy at Strive, told Ray Salmon of CoinDesk on Markets Outlook that AI is just as much to blame, pulling capital out of the market with a higher-conviction growth story.
"AI has sucked a lot of capital out of the room, out of the... sales of Bitcoin." — Joe Burnett
Joe runs Bitcoin strategy at Strive, the asset manager that became the first publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company after its 2025 merger, buying coins with capital raised through preferred-equity offerings yielding up to 15% a year.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 37 minutes of audio, 6 minutes of reading.
Here are the 7 calls that matter.
Key Takeaways
Bitcoin's return in the 3 years after every historical Fed rate hike was always positive, Joe says
AI "sucked" capital out of Bitcoin, but a maturing AI cycle could send it back
Joe's long-standing call: Bitcoin at $11M per coin by 2036
At parity with gold alone, Bitcoin would be worth about $1.5M per coin
Bitcoin is still one-tenth of 1% of global assets, Joe says
Strive's Bitcoin buying tracks its capital-raising activity, not price opportunism
Joe's own Bitcoin and Bitcoin-adjacent allocation is by far his largest position
1. A Macro Reality Check
Joe opened by acknowledging Bitcoin has been roughly flat for five years, a near-0% return he attributed to a hiking Fed, higher energy prices from the Iran conflict, and AI absorbing investor attention.
Bitcoin's lost half-decade has a cause beyond the Fed, Joe argues
"If you look at Bitcoin over the last five years, it's effectively done nothing — it peaked in November of 2021 at around $69,000 per coin. Today we're around $71-72,000 per coin. It's basically close to a 0% return." — Joe Burnett
He expects the Fed to raise rates at least 25 basis points in December given a hot CPI print, but argues a surprise pause, if the market has already priced in more hikes, could be "very beneficial to assets further out on the risk curve" like Bitcoin.
