Bitwise Asset Management's Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan predicts that the next cryptocurrency bull market will be more tempered and less explosive than previous cycles. According to him, investor attention is increasingly divided between digital assets and other high-growth sectors like artificial intelligence.
Hougan notes that while interest from U.S. Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and large institutions remains at an all-time high, the focus of that interest has broadened. The crypto downturn has prompted a pivot toward more tangible applications, such as stablecoins and the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs), rather than a singular focus on Bitcoin's price appreciation.
The institutional preference for stablecoins and RWA tokenization indicates that the next phase of crypto growth will be built on infrastructure and utility rather than pure speculation. This could lead to more sustainable market expansion, but it also means that the explosive rallies of 2017 and 2021 may not be repeated in the same form.