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According to Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, much of the crypto complex already went through a down cycle last year even though headline coins looked steadier.
He points to heavy buying from ETFs and companies that kept Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP from showing the full brunt of those losses. Some tokens, without that same support, fell hard — in many cases by about 50%–60% — and behaved like past bear phases.
Institutional Buying Accelerates
Hougan Says ETF flows and corporate accumulation have shifted the balance. When institutions buy more than new supply, price pressure changes. That is what he highlights.
“We ran the four-year cycle last year,” Hougan said. “We’re already at the bottom. I think we’re coming back up.”
ETF purchases and corporate hoarding at times outpaced newly mined Bitcoin, creating a persistent bid under the market. Reports note the comparison to gold, where steady central bank buying first steadied prices and later helped fuel much bigger moves.
“Just like gold eventually entered a parabolic move, Bitcoin will follow suit,” Hougan said. We’re just earlier in that process.”
A Selective Altcoin Cycle Expected
Investors are getting pickier. The next up-cycle, according to this view, will reward projects with clear use and steady activity, not every token with hype.
Networks tied to stablecoins, tokenization, and real infrastructure work stand a better chance of drawing capital. Lower-quality projects that lack users or clear purpose could see little interest and remain sidelined.
Bitcoin Price Action
In the middle of these structural shifts, Bitcoin’s price has kept traders busy. Recently BTC slid from earlier peaks to roughly 60,000–65,000 before finding buyers and moving back above 65,000 amid a broader rebound.
Geopolitical headlines pushed risk appetite up and down, and those swings helped produce one of Bitcoin’s rougher stretches in weeks. Reports say traders are watching headlines closely because news can prompt sudden outsized moves.
A Slow Transfer From Old Hands To New Buyers
Long-term holders are selling some coins while institutions move in. That hand-off can feel messy. A sale wall forms when investors who bought early decide to take profit, and large institutions step in to absorb that supply.
That process has been observed in other asset classes as they mature, and it does not automatically mean demand is weakening over the long run.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
