Ivan on Tech gives a brief market update on Bitcoin's pullback and the shutdown of the Abstract blockchain
Solo presenter Ivan gives a quick live update on Bitcoin's dip and the news that Pudgy Penguins' Layer 2 chain, Abstract, is being wound down.
Summary
Ivan, the host of the Ivan on Tech channel, delivers an unplanned short livestream prompted by Bitcoin dropping to around $83,700 — a move he characterises as a routine retest of a prior breakout level rather than a trend reversal. He argues the pullback is healthy and expected within a bull market, as it builds support at key price levels. The second major topic is the official announcement that Abstract, the Layer 2 blockchain built by the Pudgy Penguins team under founder Luca Netz, is being shut down after two years and tens of millions of dollars spent without finding product-market fit. Ivan notes he flagged the development a few days earlier when Luca Netz removed Abstract from his social media profile. Ivan defends Luca's decision to pivot while acknowledging the frustration of airdrop farmers who will receive nothing.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Bitcoin's Pullback — Staying Calm in a Bull Market
Ivan: Guys, welcome to another episode. As you can see right now, we are dumping. We're going down. We are at 83.7. The world is collapsing. I didn't even plan to do a video today because I have to go very soon, but I know we have a community. People want an update. The whole crypto space is a bunch of nervous people who want an update even if we go down 1% or 2%. So let me just do it quickly and then I'm out of here.
First and foremost, people have so much emotion. You have to be calm. If you have a system, you're calm.
My titles — sometimes people ask, "Ivan, why do you have a bearish title on bearish days and a bullish title on bullish days?" Because my title is the representation of the average player. I need the average player to see that I will be speaking about his emotion. My emotion is different.
So, Bitcoin is down a bit — slightly down. The bull trend is still above the breakout. You remember a few days ago at $87,000, we were saying that even if we go back to this yellow line, it's still mega bullish. It's basically just retesting the breakout. We broke out, retesting the breakout, and then continue to the upside. So the best thing for Bitcoin would actually be to retest the yellow line, because when you retest something, you actually build support. Next time we come back here, there's going to be even more support.
It's also nice when you have a bull market and it goes sideways — it breaks out, it goes sideways. Why? Because you need to build a base. Base is support. So whenever there's volatility in the future, if it comes down, there's going to be nice support. That's exactly why, all in all, volatility within the bull trend is expected. Touching previous levels it broke out from is also expected, and even good, because it's building support.
Literally nothing has changed. The plan is the same. We're bullish. Bitcoin bullish, Solana bullish, ETH bullish — everything is in a bull trend. And red candles can happen. I'm sorry to inform you — we're in crypto. We're in a market where red candles do happen.
Abstract Shuts Down — Pudgy Penguins Pivots to Focus
In terms of news, there is a bit of news with Pudgy Penguins because they are shutting down Abstract. You remember a few days ago we did say that they are shutting down Abstract because Luca Netz deleted Abstract from his profile, and now the news is official. We already covered it last week, but now everyone knows it.
The news is official that Abstract is shutting down — they're winding down. There is a lot of discussion about whether it's good or bad, but I think ultimately for a company it's good to focus. If you have a product that no one cares about — and no one cares about Abstract, no one is using Abstract — yes, there is a core community that loves it and there was maybe going to be some airdrop, but overall, to find product-market fit for a chain in today's day and age is very hard. It's better to focus on Pudgy Penguins and that's it.
I think ultimately it's good, but there is of course drama now. People are accusing Luca of not doing the airdrop, and I can understand it. People did a lot of transactions, did a lot of airdrop farming, and there is no airdrop. And by the way, this is why we don't really do airdrop farming. If you watch this channel, we've been saying it's a waste of time. They can change their plan. I don't like airdrop farming. It's a waste of time. But if you are a farmer, I understand it's a bit of an issue for you.
Luca's statement says: after losing tens of millions of dollars over two years, building consumer products, assembling an all-star team, onboarding some of the biggest brands in the world, and building a community of millions, they still had not found product-market fit. There is no product-market fit for a non-memecoin chain aimed at consumers. You're either a memecoin chain like Robinhood, or you do some DeFi stuff, or you're like Solana. But this idea that "we're going to build a chain for consumers so they can have their penguins there" — clearly, by now, has not worked. So maybe it is a signal that it's either very hard and no one has cracked it yet, or there's simply no market demand to use a chain for your plushies or figurines or gaming, because you can have those things on Solana or other chains anyway.
I think it's good to focus. Focus on the penguin. Make the penguin pump — that's it.
Luca Netz's Old Clips and the Reality of Being a Founder
There are like a million clips of him being super bullish on Abstract, and people are blaming him for that. I can understand that. But I can tell you — being a founder doing stuff, sometimes you are bullish on an idea, you go all in, then you realise it does not work, and then you don't do it. It's totally fine.
Here's one of those clips:
Luca Netz: "I think the thing I want you guys to hold me accountable for is: over the next year, Abstract is going to flip on a dime. I think it's going to be the biggest L2 by a Texas smile. I think we're going to do something from a consumer perspective that nobody else has done — whether you believe it now or not, it doesn't really matter to me. It's going to happen. I think the second thing is, I think Pudgy Penguins and Pengu are going to break through in a way that if you thought the last couple of years have been great..."
Ivan: Would it have been better if he had made Abstract big? It would have been way better — that would be the ideal scenario. But using old clips against him — okay, if you watched that and then you farmed, I understand you are upset. But a founder being bullish as hell on his thing all the way until he says "yeah, it doesn't work" — that's very common. As a founder, you either put your time in or you don't. There's no in between. Imagine being a founder and spending two years being lukewarm on your idea. You cannot do that. As a founder, either you're all in and your team is all in, or you do something else.
All in all, the Pengu stuff — let's see how the token evolves. I think it's good for the penguins. There's going to be some controversy around it for the coming weeks, and then hopefully we can focus on the core, which is the penguin. No more Abstract, so less attention spread.
Market Check — Everything Is Down Today
Other than that, the whole industry is taking a few percent back today. Bull market giveth, bull market taketh — today it's taketh. You see here: taketh, taketh, taketh. Everything is down.
Follow the strategy, follow the plan. We don't worry too much. We sit in our boat very comfortably. And we're going to be back tomorrow. I have to cut it short because I didn't even plan to stream today — I have too much other stuff going on. But the market is down 2% and people are worried. How can I leave the community when it goes down so much? I need to make sure we're on the same page even when Bitcoin is down 2%.