Bitwise Says Crypto Has Likely Bottomed, Echoing Q1 2023 Setup

Bitwise Asset Management is arguing that crypto’s present drawdown has the fingerprints of a cyclical low: weak costs alongside strengthening on-chain and enterprise fundamentals, a sample the agency says final appeared in Q1 2023 earlier than a multi-year rally.

In its This fall 2025 “Crypto Market Review,” Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan frames the quarter as an unusually necessary inflection level exactly as a result of the alerts aren’t all shifting in the identical route. “But typically—each infrequently—the charts are blended,” Hougan wrote. “The final one I keep in mind was Q1 2023. At the time, we had been beginning to rebound post-FTX, and the info was topsy-turvy; some up, some down, some sideways. In the 2 years that adopted, crypto costs soared.”

Bitwise’s core claim rests on a divergence between market efficiency and utilization metrics in This fall. The agency notes that Ethereum fell 29% over the quarter, at the same time as Ethereum and Layer 2 transactions “soared to new all-time highs (up 24.5%).” Crypto equities additionally bought off, down 20% in This fall by Bitwise’s measure whereas the underlying corporations’ revenues had been “on tempo to develop 3x quicker than another sector of the inventory market,” in keeping with the report.

The value tape was undeniably heavy. The Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index fell 26.29% in This fall and completed 2025 down 10.64% year-to-date; Bitcoin was down 23.48% in This fall (down 6.26% in 2025), whereas Ethereum fell 28.59% in This fall (down 11.03% in 2025).

Yet the report additionally exhibits the market retaining scale: whole crypto market capitalization stood at roughly $2.78 trillion as of Dec. 31, with bitcoin representing 63.6% and ether about 12.9%.

Where Bitwise sees “inexperienced shoots” is in rails and income. The govt abstract argues that “each stablecoin AUM and stablecoin transaction exercise soared to new all-time highs,” presenting that as proof a sturdy adoption wave is underway.

Four Crypto Catalysts Bitwise Is Watching In 2026

Bitwise argues the market’s subsequent leg might be formed much less by narrative rotation and extra by identifiable catalysts, beginning with US market-structure laws. “All eyes are on the CLARITY Act,” the report says, describing it as a Senate-moving invoice that would present a “robust regulatory basis” but additionally carries the danger of a weaker final result or no invoice in any respect.

The second catalyst is what the agency calls a “stablecoin supercycle,” positioning stablecoins as cost infrastructure that’s more and more decoupled from directional crypto beta. Bitwise writes that 2025 annual stablecoin transaction quantity topped $32 trillion, up 73% year-over-year, “greater than doubling Visa’s quantity by the primary 9 months of the 12 months,” and says that information “verify[s] their arrival within the mainstream.”

The third is macro, particularly the approaching change on the Federal Reserve. Bitwise notes Chair Jerome Powell’s “looming departure in May,” giving President Trump a chance to nominate new management. Between named candidates Kevin Warsh and Kevin Hassett, Bitwise says Hassett is considered because the extra dovish on charges and monetary coverage, including {that a} dovish appointment would improve the chance of fee cuts and “ought to drive crypto belongings larger.”

The fourth is plumbing: distribution at main US wealth platforms. Bitwise factors to “initial wirehouse ETF flows” following This fall approvals, writing that monetary advisors at three of the 4 main wirehouses gained entry to crypto ETFs in This fall after beforehand being barred from recommending publicity. Those advisors “management ~$16 trillion in belongings,” and Bitwise expects early flows to begin slowly in Q1 earlier than accelerating.

Hougan stops wanting calling any single variable decisive, however ties the underside thesis as to if the underlying information retains enhancing. He wrote he was drafting the memo on Jan. 16 after crypto had already begun posting robust early-year returns and added: “If the basic information on this report stays regular, I feel that pattern may proceed.”

At press time, the whole crypto market cap stood at $3.00 trillion.