{"id":890389,"date":"2026-02-05T23:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T05:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/05\/bitcoin-and-altcoins-recovery-coming-soon-says-bitwise-cio\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T23:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T05:12:12","slug":"bitcoin-and-altcoins-recovery-coming-soon-says-bitwise-cio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/05\/bitcoin-and-altcoins-recovery-coming-soon-says-bitwise-cio\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin And Altcoins Recovery Coming Soon, Says Bitwise CIO"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Despite the recent volatility in digital asset markets, Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, says the broader crypto sector may already be emerging from a bear-market phase, with institutional demand and improving fundamentals likely to drive the next cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already had a bear market\u201d<\/h3>\n

Hougan argued that much <\/a>of the crypto market experienced a significant downturn earlier, even if major assets appeared relatively resilient.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a full-blown bear market last year. We didn\u2019t experience it because Bitcoin, ETH, and XRP did okay \u2014 they had institutional flows from ETFs and corporations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Assets without institutional backing, he noted, fell sharply, with some large cryptocurrencies declining 50%\u201360%, resembling conditions seen during previous bear cycles such as 2018 and 2022.<\/p>\n

According to Hougan, the market may already be moving into a recovery phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ran the four-year cycle last year. We\u2019re already at the bottom. I think we\u2019re coming back up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Institutional demand reshaping the market<\/h3>\n

Hougan said the introduction of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in early 2024 created a structural shift in demand. ETF purchases, corporate accumulation and other institutional buying have, at times, exceeded the amount of new Bitcoin entering circulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at ETF purchases or corporate purchases, it\u2019s vastly more than the amount of new Bitcoin being produced,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He compared the situation to the gold market, where sustained central-bank buying initially stabilized prices before eventually driving a stronger rally once selling pressure from existing holders declined.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like gold eventually entered a parabolic move, Bitcoin will follow suit. We\u2019re just earlier in that process.\u201d<\/p>\n

A more selective altcoin cycle ahead<\/h3>\n

Hougan said the next phase of the crypto market is unlikely to resemble past \u201ceverything rallies\u201d altcoin cycles. Instead, investors are becoming more selective, rewarding projects with real adoption and strong fundamentals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to have a classic alt season where every zombie coin rises,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople are going to distinguish between high-quality projects and low-quality projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed to networks with strong activity in areas such as stablecoins, tokenization and decentralized infrastructure as potential leaders in the next cycle, while weaker projects could struggle to attract capital.<\/p>\n

Long-term outlook remains constructive<\/h3>\n

Hougan also highlighted a broader shift occurring within the market: early investors and long-term holders are gradually selling portions of their holdings, while institutional investors increasingly replace them as the dominant buyers.<\/p>\n

This transition, he said, is typical of maturing asset classes and does not necessarily signal weakening demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working through that sale wall\u2026 but we\u2019re going to get through it,\u201d he said, adding that the long-term trend of increasing institutional participation remains intact.<\/p>\n

While timing remains uncertain, Hougan said the combination of structural demand, improving infrastructure and investor selectivity could support the next stage of growth in digital assets, with stronger projects leading the recovery rather than the entire market moving in unison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n \ufeffAnjali Belgaumkar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite the recent volatility in digital asset markets, Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, says the broader crypto sector may already be emerging from a bear-market phase, with institutional demand and improving fundamentals likely to drive the next cycle. \u201cWe already had a bear market\u201d Hougan argued that much of the crypto<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":890390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29875,4041],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-890389","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-altcoins","8":"category-bitcoin"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=890389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/890390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=890389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=890389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=890389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}