Jack Mallers, founder of Strike, published an essay arguing that Bitcoin’s bear market, which has left him “getting my ass kicked,” exposes reality rather than hiding it, unlike traditional financial systems that soften consequences. Mallers stepped down as CEO of Twenty One Capital, acknowledging that the company he believed he was building and its direction “were no longer the same.” He wrote that Bitcoin’s painful downturns reveal excessive leverage, poor decisions and fragile business models, whereas governments and banks use bailouts to protect participants from lessons. Mallers did not predict prices, stating that the discomfort of a bear market keeps Bitcoin honest.
Jack Mallers, founder of Strike, said Bitcoin’s bear market has left him “getting my ass kicked,” but he believes that is exactly what makes the asset different from traditional financial systems. In an essay published Friday, just days after resigning as CEO of Twenty One Capital, Mallers argued that Bitcoin’s painful downturns expose reality instead of hiding it.
Mallers wrote that he originally drafted the essay on July 11, before resigning from Twenty One Capital, intending to publish it the following Monday. He acknowledged that the company he believed he was building and the direction it ultimately took “were no longer the same,” leading him to step away.
He accepted responsibility for helping create expectations that “were not ultimately fulfilled,” while making clear that the essay was not a defense of his decision. Instead, Mallers used Bitcoin’s latest bear market as a lens through which to examine leadership, conviction, and failure.
“I am not writing this from the peaceful other side of the storm,” he wrote. “I am still in it.” Drawing a contrast with traditional finance, Mallers said governments, banks, and institutions frequently soften consequences of poor decisions through bailouts and refinancing.
“The world I am used to keeps trying to protect me from the lesson,” he noted. “Bitcoin does not.” He described volatility as information rather than weakness, maintaining that price swings expose excessive leverage, poor decisions and fragile business models.
Looking back at the collapse of FTX in 2022, he contended that Bitcoin did not create the fraud, as the bear market simply removed conditions that had allowed weak businesses and unsustainable leverage to survive. He admitted that previous bull markets had shaped his own behavior, writing that he had started confusing “attention for proof of work” and “vision for execution.”
His resignation from Twenty One became another example of that same lesson. Mallers did not spend time predicting prices, with his argument being simpler: the discomfort of a bear market is precisely what keeps Bitcoin honest.
