AIOpinion
|7 min ReadIgnore the AI Bubble Noise, Follow Real Trends
Maya Chen
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
In tech circles, everybody is yelling about an AI bubble and a new crypto bear market. Screens are red, headlines are dramatic, and big names are fighting on TV and X. Some AI leaders have seen their stock prices fall by 10 to 30 percent. The Nasdaq has dropped around 5 percent. People ask if this is the top, if AI is a scam, if crypto is finished.
Friends keep asking what I think. The honest answer is simple. I do not know, and I do not care very much. Not because these things do not matter for the world, but because for most ordinary people, they are not the real question. For us, many of these so-called great debates are just noise. What matters is whether we can see the few clear, deterministic trends and ride them with focus.
Elite Fights Are Their Problems, Not Yours
Right now, the AI bubble argument is raging. People argue if large models can reach AGI, if AI companies are stretching depreciation schedules to pump profits, if data centers are full of idle GPUs, if liquidity in crypto will ever come back. These questions are very important for people like Trump, Jensen Huang, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Wall Street bankers and big funds. They are not required homework for ordinary people trying to make smart choices.
Modern media gives a small elite the power to set the agenda. They grab the microphone and drag our attention into their world. Many regular people are struggling in real life, yet they spend their energy worrying about the troubles of billionaires and regulators. They act like they are central bankers, big hedge fund managers, industry regulators. You have to work hard to escape that illusion and remember a simple fact. Their power and wealth are not yours. Their problems are not yours. If you waste your attention on debates they design, your mind gets lost in their world and you miss the very real, very concrete opportunities in your own life.
The Internet Boom: A Historic Lesson In Missed Chances
Anyone over forty has a personal story about missing the internet wave. Think back to the early days of this century. Looking back, the success of the internet was a victory announced in advance. User numbers were exploding, average online time kept rising, information and commerce were moving online fast. You could hardly ask for clearer signals or a more deterministic trend.
Yet many of us did not jump. It was not because we could not see the signals. It was because we were trapped in endless debates. First we argued whether the internet had any business model at all. After Google proved advertising, we argued whether that model had enough room to grow. When e-commerce appeared, we argued about payment and returns, calling them fatal flaws. When online games took off, we argued that youth addiction would destroy the country’s future. When social media and online payments rose, we argued about when the government would shut everything down. When Bitcoin appeared, we argued whether Satoshi was CIA and whether early evangelists were just talking nonsense.
These arguments captured our attention. We slipped into roles that were never ours: industry association, “protect the children” committee, bank CEO, propaganda office, law enforcement. We kept hesitating, staring at the obvious success of the internet yet obsessing over uncertainties that did not belong to us. The result was simple. Most people missed a deterministic, historic opportunity.
A sad detail is that much of that online history is now being erased at record speed. Future researchers, even with AI, may never see how much time ordinary people spent arguing about other people’s problems. Most histories focus on winners, painting them as visionary, brilliant, tough, almost prophetic. Very few summarize the lessons of the crowd. So let us write one lesson down while memories are still fresh. Other people’s problems are not necessarily your problems.
Other people’s signals may be your noise. Do not drown in debates that do not belong to you. Just watch the facts and lock onto clear, structural trends. For ordinary people, that is often enough.
AI And Crypto: Where The Real Opportunities Sit
Why is Wall Street and Silicon Valley so obsessed with AI right now? Because nearly all credit in that system is flowing into AI, and much of the measured growth comes from AI investment. At the same time, the revenue data and accounting behavior of some AI firms are showing worrying signs. That is a problem. But it is their problem. It belongs to Wall Street, to Silicon Valley, to the White House, to the Fed, and to many Asian family offices. It probably does not belong to you. You are not Jensen Huang, not Sam Altman, not Michael Burry, not some billionaire’s relative. Whether AI has a bubble is not your top concern.
Your concern should be this. AI is already very strong today, even without AGI. Its current power is far from fully used. The bottleneck is people. A new class of “AI super users” is emerging. They can combine multiple AI tools smoothly and dominate their fields. Are you still using AI as a simple search replacement while they race ahead?
In many AI niches, real products already generate real revenue. AI giants, to keep capital support, must push user numbers and usage higher. That means they will actively encourage developers who build concrete applications. The question is whether you can build something in the domain you understand best.
On the blockchain side, the noise has been heavy, speculation has been intense, but something important has happened in the background. Core infrastructure has largely solved performance bottlenecks. Blockchains can now support low latency, high throughput, large-scale on-chain applications. Stablecoins keep growing and spreading into more use cases. More importantly, traditional assets from Wall Street to Hong Kong, including stocks, equity, bonds, metals, FX, and derivatives, are moving on-chain. Finance is migrating to the blockchain.
So the real question is not the short-term Bitcoin price, not when liquidity “comes back,” not whether Trump can push through perfect crypto laws. The real question is this. In a few years, people will be able to use stablecoins to invest in almost any asset on-chain and use AI as their investment advisor.
With the right knowledge and tools, ordinary people will be able to grow alongside the fastest firms and industries on the planet, with fewer barriers. In that world, do you have enough skill and understanding? Can you help more people escape the damage of chaos and inflation? What products and services can you build that truly create value?
These are the questions worth your time.
Living In A Messy World Without Losing Yourself
The world is clearly getting more chaotic. Many things that used to allow long term planning no longer feel secure. In a way, many people are moving down Maslow’s pyramid, from chasing success and self-realization to fighting simply for a decent life. That is reality. It is tempting to escape into short videos and quick dopamine. But after the rush fades, real life is still waiting.
The point is not to comfort ourselves with stories that everything will get better. The point is sharper. We do not need to predict everything. We only need to do the few deterministic things right and hold onto the deterministic trends. That is better than wasting energy on fear, hesitation, and elite-driven debates that have nothing to do with our real choices. For ordinary people, that shift of focus can change everything.
Disclaimer: This document is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed in this document are not, and should not be taken as, investment advice or recommendations. Recipients should do their own due diligence, taking into account their specific financial circumstances, investment objectives and risk tolerance, which are not considered here, before investing. This document is not an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any of the assets mentioned.