"Looking back, COVID, or rather the gross mishandling of it, killed more than just people, it destroyed many businesses as well"

Exactly this. I witnessed it happen in Vancouver. Vibrant communities, with diverse small businesses, were closed down and boarded up. Meanwhile, the Walmarts and Costcos of the world were allowed to stay open. A sad sight indeed.

Of course, the government came to the rescue with printed money to bail out laid-off workers and small business owners. It became clear that their end goal was to weaken us, and make us all dependent on their handouts (like zoo animals).

I'm happy to see some businesses returning to normal operations, and my hope is that crypto will re-invigorate the decimated small business sector.