I'm a bit worried about BTC lately. Not because of the price—after dropping nearly half from its peak, it's still not low; after all, I've seen Bitcoin worth tens or hundreds of dollars in the past and bear markets that fell even more. What concerns me is that the narratives supporting its value are facing tests. The two main core narratives—"Digital Gold" and "National Reserve"—have not been disproven, but their shine has dimmed.

The "Digital Gold" narrative is fading: after Satoshi disappeared, it was a self-sustained story maintained by the industry, promising to be the ultimate safe haven in a turbulent world. However, when traditional gold repeatedly hits new highs, Bitcoin hasn't correlated; and when geopolitical conflicts erupt, it hasn't shown the expected safe-haven surge. This inconsistent performance has shaken its narrative foundation.

The "National Reserve" narrative remains unresolved: although a few small countries have experimented with it, among major powers, this idea has yet to materialize, turning what once seemed like an imminent catalyst into a distant vision.

If old narratives gradually weaken, then where can new hopes and imaginations that reignite global excitement come from? The grand narratives of the future may need to go beyond the existing traditional financial reform frameworks:

Interstellar Currency: As Elon Musk’s Starship era unfolds and extraterrestrial colonies become a tangible goal, a decentralized, sovereign-independent, seamless interstellar value transfer medium will become a real necessity. Bitcoin, with its absolute scarcity, censorship resistance, and global consensus, is currently the closest prototype to this vision. Communication between Earth and Mars depends on whether the signals are facing or away; electromagnetic signals take 15-25 minutes to reach, making a round trip 30-50 minutes. Bitcoin’s average block time is 10 minutes, with 6 confirmations, perfectly matching the handshake time of communication systems between Earth and Mars.

AI Currency: In the future, large economies driven and managed by AI will operate automatically, requiring a "hard currency" that machines can trust and exchange efficiently. This currency must be transparently governed, supply immutable, and globally circulated. Bitcoin’s algorithmic consensus precisely provides this "ultimate certainty" among machines, forming the foundational financial layer of the AI economy.

Ultimately, Bitcoin’s ultimate battle is not just a technological victory but a victory of narratives and consensus. Every leap in value is accompanied by a new story capable of capturing human collective imagination. When old stories reach their limits, a more magnificent, future-oriented new chapter is needed. Interstellar and AI are two ultimate imaginations capable of carrying the next generation of consensus—still not fully priced in and difficult to disprove in the short term—much like religion.