In the past, observing the crypto market was quite simple.
I'd open a trading app, check Bitcoin's price movements, then Ethereum's, and finally scroll through a few familiar accounts. If the market suddenly crashed, I'd look for reasons: Was there an issue with an exchange? Did a project collapse? Or was there some new regulatory news?
This method used to work well.
But in the past two years, a situation has become increasingly common:
Nothing major happens in the crypto circle, yet the market suddenly moves.
Later, I realized that US Treasury yields had risen, and the DXY was strengthening; or US stock futures suddenly weakened, and all risk assets were cooling down.
That's when I realized a problem:
Many times, Bitcoin is just the final "visible outcome."
The real changes often happen earlier in other markets.
One Screen Is No Longer Enough
Now, if you're seriously looking at digital assets, you usually end up with more and more browser tabs open.
One page for crypto prices.
One page for US stocks.
One page for the DXY and US Treasuries.
You also need to open a financial calendar for CPI, non-farm payrolls, and Federal Reserve meeting days.
Interspersed with Twitter, Telegram, exchange announcements, and several financial media outlets.
It often ends up being an absurd scene:
To understand why Bitcoin dropped 2%, I've opened over a dozen web pages.
So I increasingly feel that the real problem with financial information is no longer "availability," but rather its fragmentation.
Especially as the crypto market and traditional finance become more intertwined, this sense of disconnect becomes even more apparent.
Sometimes I Just Want to Know: Is Anything Big Happening Right Now?
Most people aren't professional traders.
It's impossible to monitor terminals from morning till night.
What's truly needed might just be a few minutes:
To see if BTC has any anomalies;
To check if US stocks and the dollar have had major changes;
To quickly scan if there's CPI, non-farm payrolls, or central bank meetings today;
And to review the past dozen or so important news headlines.
If there's nothing special, close the browser and get back to whatever you were doing.
In this scenario, long articles are not the primary need.
The primary need is to quickly establish today's market context.
I recently saw the design of Svmuu, and I feel it's following this path.
The homepage doesn't just feature cryptocurrencies.
In the 7x24 News section, besides digital currencies, there's macroeconomics, US stocks, commodities, and geopolitics; you can choose to only view important news when needed. Further down, there's a financial calendar and data from different markets.
It doesn't isolate crypto but directly blends it with traditional financial information.
This actually aligns better with how people view the market now.
Because Markets Are Inherently Intertwined
For example, a very common scenario.
Bitcoin starts to fall in the evening.
At this point, you see:
US economic data has just been released;
Market expectations for the interest rate path have changed;
US Treasury yields are rising;
Nasdaq is starting to weaken;
The dollar is simultaneously strengthening.
Then there's no need to immediately search for so-called "crypto bearish news."
The market has already provided another explanation.
Of course, this doesn't mean these assets always have a fixed relationship.
Bitcoin won't follow Nasdaq every day, and gold won't always move inversely to digital assets.
The market is never that simple.
But at least you know:
Before judging a market trend, first see what's happening with other assets.
This can avoid a lot of meaningless speculation.
I Increasingly Seldom Use Financial Websites as "Places to Read Articles"
In the past, I opened financial media to read news.
Now, more often than not, it's just to quickly confirm a few questions:
What important data is out today?
Which market is showing significant volatility?
Did something just happen?
Are there any notable events in the next few hours?
If so, I'll research further.
If not, there's no need to keep refreshing.
From this perspective, I think financial products in the future might increasingly resemble a "dashboard" rather than a traditional news website.
Articles will, of course, still exist.
But for the parts used frequently every day, breaking news, market data, calendars, and filtering tools might be more important.
Especially for a 24-hour, non-stop market like digital assets.
No one can truly be online 24/7.
Being able to quickly understand the current market state within a few minutes might already be enough.
So now, when I open Bitcoin's price chart, I'm no longer accustomed to just looking at Bitcoin.
Occasionally, the first thing I look at is the dollar, US Treasuries, or Nasdaq.
Because sometimes, the answer isn't in the crypto sphere at all.
