AOL discontinued dial-up internet access yesterday, Sept. 30, 2025, ending the access service while AOL Mail and other products remain.

According to AOL, the AOL Dialer and AOL Shield are now retired, with instructions for users to transition off legacy connections now posted for support reference.

The shutdown affects a tiny fraction of U.S. households and arrives as crypto markets mature through new access channels that change how investors reach Bitcoin without changing what Bitcoin is.

The dial-up analogy surfaces whenever markets rotate or infrastructure sunsets, yet dial-up was an access modality to a network, not the network itself.

So, in short, no, Bitcoin is not going to be replaced like dial-up has been.

However, let’s dive into why and where the actual comparison between the internet and Bitcoin adoption remains valid.

Bitcoin is a monetary asset and a base settlement protocol.

If there is a parallel to AOL in crypto, it is the set of custodial front ends, exchange on-ramps, and second-layer user experiences that rotate as technology and regulation move.

The network that dial-up connected to, the Internet, persisted and scaled across broadband and mobile generations.

Per the International Telecommunication Union, about 5.5 billion people, roughly 68 percent of the world, were online in 2024, a reminder that networks expand while edge access changes.

The proper crypto mapping treats ETFs, stablecoins, and Layer-2s as access rails that can broaden participation, not as replacements for the base monetary layer.

Dial-up’s remaining footprint offers a perspective on sunset dynamics.

The 2023 American Community Survey counted about 163,401 U.S. households reporting dial-up alone, a heavily rural slice that persisted because of last-mile constraints and price sensitivity.

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Author: Liam ‘Akiba’ Wright