With the initial “Uptober” buzz fading away and Bitcoin struggling to sustain $110,000, overall crypto market sentiment has seemingly taken a hit. Online reports suggest market participants are disappointed with recent performance, but some experts argue this means the industry is “winning.”
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Cryptocurrency mood is ‘sad’ despite industry adoption
“The atmosphere in crypto group chats is just sad,” investor and analyst Will Clemente told X on Thursday. He explained that investors seem “fed up, demoralized and feeling defeated,” adding that they have “completely given up” and switched to other asset classes following BTC’s performance this year.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley addressed this issue, asserting that “crypto-natives are currently in a multi-month bear market sentiment” while “non-Twitter” sentiment is “at an all-time high.”
Horsley elaborated that offline’s positive outlook is being driven by a notable reduction in regulatory risk, which has led to a surge in recent institutional adoption and mainstream recognition.
Notably, a second wave of crypto-based exchange traded funds (ETFs) began trading this week, with Bitwise’s Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) gaining traction. Additionally, the Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) trend led by Strategy continues to funnel millions of dollars into cryptocurrencies.
“The market is changing,” the CEO asserted in a Friday X post, pointing to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s recent change in approach. Dimon has long been skeptical of cryptocurrencies, calling the main cryptocurrency a “pyramid scheme” and dismissing it as “useless, like a pet rock.” Nevertheless, he recently admitted that he was wrong and that cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and blockchains are “real”.
Is the market “boring” or mature?
In response to Clemente’s post, Nick Carter said the change in sentiment highlights a deeper truth about the market: it has matured significantly. He described cryptocurrencies as currently “boring” as most of the questions and uncertainties that caused historic volatility have been resolved.
Many of the outstanding questions have been answered, but will stablecoins be allowed? Yes. Will we be banned? no. If we create software, will we all go to jail? No. Will we be included in tradfi? yes. Can tokens have cash flows rather than securities? Apparently. (…) There are still some unanswered questions, especially regarding cashflow pseudo-equity tokens, which will probably be answered in the next few years.
He also argued that the cryptocurrency industry has become largely de-risked as a technology base, leading large companies to adopt these tools. They argued that this shows that “crypto natives no longer control the narrative, there is more serious business (that doesn’t require tokens), there is less confusion, and the whole space has matured significantly.”
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For Carter, this means the industry has “won.” However, he noted that clarity and maturity come with less excitement, as “winning means the volatility inherent in the space is significantly reduced. This applies to both the startup and the underlying asset itself.”
“So if you’re sad that volatility has been subdued, smile through your tears because we won,” he concluded.
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com