Author: Blockchain Knight
Although the current cycle of the crypto market has been defined as a bull market, the actual experience has been quite the opposite. While Bitcoin set several all-time highs, the upward trend was lackluster and dull, with brutal corrections. Most altcoins plummeted by over 90%, causing retail investors to exit en masse.
Even core supporters are questioning the legitimacy of this ‘bull market,’ which is widely regarded as the toughest bull run the industry has ever seen. Despite Bitcoin doubling from its 2023 lows, the market’s soul has become hollow.
This situation stems from three core reasons.
First, institutions have completely reshaped the market landscape. Wall Street giants like Blackrock and Fidelity did not come to speculate; instead, they took control of the infrastructure, custody networks, and tokenized real-world assets of cryptocurrencies, purchasing all liquidity channels and compliance pathways that other participants must rent.
While this ‘foundational adoption’ has strengthened the industry’s foundation, it has sapped market vitality, clashing with the speculative culture previously dominated by retail investors.
Second, MEME culture has led to the collapse of meaning within the industry. Once a form of satire, MEMEs became the dominant narrative between 2023 and 2025. Various ‘community coins’ and ‘animal coins’ surged through viral marketing only to crash spectacularly, turning the market into a casino without an exit.
Even seasoned industry veterans fell into the trap of chasing trends. The greed of retail investors collided with Web3’s ironic culture, resulting in mutual losses.
Third, the macroeconomic environment suppressed risk appetite. Trump’s tariff policies triggered stock market pullbacks and drained liquidity, compounded by persistently high interest rates, leading to skyrocketing capital costs and dried-up funding. Risk assets such as cryptocurrencies entered a prolonged consolidation phase. What should have been a ‘wealth era’ for retail investors turned into an extended test of patience.
In the end, Bitcoin emerged as the sole survivor. Backed by institutional inflows and regulatory acceptance, it remained resilient amidst market collapses, reaffirming the sustainability of cryptocurrencies.
This mature phase of the bull market, devoid of euphoria and sharp surges, exhibits the stability that a financial system should embody, yet leaves profit-seekers feeling increasingly fatigued.
In this ‘hollow bull market,’ the market’s creativity, retail investor vitality, and optimism have all become collateral damage in the name of progress.
Ultimately, this reflects an industry punishing itself for prioritizing hype over utility, serving as a reminder: not every cycle exists to create wealth—some are merely here to remind us of the original purpose of participation.
