SPY's been grinding steadily around 20% annually—and honestly, that's exactly why most retail players skip crypto altogether. The math is brutal when you think about it: why gamble on digital assets that could tank to zero when you can park money in blue-chip ETFs and lock in solid double-digit returns without losing sleep? That's the real tension in crypto adoption right now. Traditional markets offer predictable, safe growth. Meanwhile, crypto demands you stomach extreme volatility for uncertain payoffs. Until the space finds ways to reduce that risk-reward gap, don't expect the average investor to make the leap.