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Fernando NikolicWork with me
Ideas

Legitimacy Crossover

When a narrative shifts from “crypto people want this” to “here’s why this might happen.”

Every idea that ends up mainstream goes through a moment I call the legitimacy crossover. Before it, the idea belongs to its fans. Journalists write about it as something crypto people want, and the subtext is that crypto people want a lot of strange things. After it, the same outlets write “here’s why this might happen,” and the idea belongs to everyone.

You can see it in the language before you see it anywhere else. The verbs change. The sources change too: instead of quoting a founder on X, the article quotes an economist or a senator. The question in the coverage moves from whether to when.

Bitcoin has crossed over several times on different questions. As an investment it crossed when the ETFs were approved. As a treasury asset it crossed when public companies started holding it. As a strategic reserve it’s still crossing over.

The crossover matters because that’s when money and attention move. Before it, you’re selling to believers. After it, you’re selling to people who need permission, and the media coverage is the permission.

Measuring this is a big part of why Perception exists. When our data showed legacy media took a more balanced view of Bitcoin in 2025, that was a crossover signal. I want to see that shift in tone early, while there’s still time to act on it.

If you’re building something, it’s worth asking which side of the crossover your idea is on, because the marketing is completely different. Before it you educate. After it you differentiate.

From the library

  • Focus on the right smaller sites. Press stories often “filter up,” meaning major news outlets are often looking to major blogs for story ideas, which in turn are looking at smaller blogs and forums. That means if you can generate buzz on those sites, you can increase your chances of getting picked up by bigger publications.

    Traction, Gabriel Weinberg & Justin Mares

  • The basic approach of positioning is not to create something new and different, but to manipulate what’s already up there in the mind, to retie the connections that already exist.

    Positioning, Al Ries & Jack Trout

  • Jihan Wu appeared extremely angered by the UASF campaign. To him, a UASF undermined the narrative he had built that miners had significant influence over the protocol rules.

    The Blocksize War, Jonathan Bier

Where I’ve talked about it