Dave Weisberger Explains Why the Fear of Missing Out Around Bitcoin Has Not Even Begun Yet

Dave Weisberger, co-founder of CoinRoutes, said in a Bitcoin Magazine conversation with Grace Remington and Sean Hagan that the biggest remaining unlock for Bitcoin is not an ETF or a treasury company, but collateral treatment. He argued that banks face a haircut on Bitcoin close to 100%, and that once Bitcoin is treated like any other asset based on volatility and liquidity, everything changes for lenders and for companies like Strategy Inc (formerly MicroStrategy). He called the issue the final boss, adding that the Basel committee and rulemakers have all described the change as inevitable without it actually happening yet.

Why a 100% haircut keeps FOMO out of the market

The core of Weisberger’s argument is that Bitcoin’s adoption story has been dominated by demand channels, while the credit channel remains underdeveloped. A haircut is the discount lenders apply to collateral because its value can move or because it may be difficult to sell quickly. If that discount is close to 100%, an asset can be widely owned without being widely usable as borrowing collateral.

The episode’s later chapters connect that problem to market structure. At 13:19, it asks why ETF money lowered Bitcoin’s volatility. At 15:24, it links covered call replacement buying to why FOMO hasn’t started. At 18:18, it frames Bitcoin as an asymmetric option and points to the pristine collateral problem: the difficulty of using an asset as collateral without compromising its risk profile.

Tokenization, Hyperliquid and the plumbing Wall Street is watching

The discussion starts broader than Bitcoin lending. At 00:00, the chapter is titled “Why Every Asset Gets Tokenized and Wall Street Is Backing It,” and at 02:00 it moves to “Bitcoin, Gold, and Equities as One Global Liquidity Pool.” Tokenization means representing assets on digital rails, and when stocks, commodities and crypto can settle on shared infrastructure, collateral choices become more comparable.

At 03:53, the conversation turns to “Hyperliquid’s Rise and the Appeal of Controlling Your Own Assets.” At 05:27, it covers “Perpetual Swaps, Segregated Accounts, and What Liquidations Really Mean.” Perpetual swaps are derivatives contracts without a fixed expiration date. Segregated accounts are used to separate client assets from exchange funds. Liquidation is the forced disposal of collateral when a position can no longer meet margin requirements.

From Citadel to Jane Street: disruption waves and open rails

At 06:39, the episode covers “Waves of Disruption From Program Trading to Citadel and Jane Street.” At 08:06, it addresses “Tokenized Stocks, Walled Gardens, and the Open Source Alternative.” The contrast is between closed systems that control access and settlement and open-source systems that let market participants inspect and build on shared code.

That matters because collateral treatment is not only a bank-capital question. It is also a market-infrastructure question. If tokenized assets, perpetual markets, program trading firms and open settlement rails all evolve at the same time, the way lenders assess collateral may change too.

The Fed, rate moves and the deficit number

The macro side appears at 10:05 with “Why Every 25 Basis Points Adds $100 Billion to the Deficit,” and the episode also covers the Fed. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. The chapter title connects small rate moves to larger debt-servicing pressure, with the stated figure of $100 billion for every 25 basis points.

What changes if collateral treatment changes

If lenders stop treating Bitcoin as an outlier and instead apply the same volatility-and-liquidity framework they use for other assets, the effect would not be a single price point. It would change financing terms, balance-sheet capacity, and the ability of companies like Strategy Inc (formerly MicroStrategy) to borrow against or manage Bitcoin holdings.

For lenders, a lower haircut would mean more usable collateral value. For borrowers, it would mean less forced selling and less need to over-collateralize. For the market, it would move Bitcoin from a demand story centered on ETFs and treasury holdings toward a credit story centered on collateral efficiency.

The remarks come from the Bitcoin Magazine post “Dave Weisberger on Why Bitcoin FOMO Hasn’t Even Started Yet,” written by Patrick Green. The post notes that the views and opinions expressed in the show are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BTC Inc., Bitcoin Magazine, or any affiliated entities. It also says the content is provided for informational and educational purposes only, not investment, legal, tax or accounting advice, and that viewers should consult their own advisors before making financial or business decisions.