Bitwise CIO: The "Full Crypto Winter" masked by institutional funds is now nearing the end rather than the beginning

PANews February 3 News, according to The Block, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise Matt Hougan stated that the crypto market has been in a “full-blown crypto winter” since early 2025, but the current market may be closer to the end of the downtrend rather than the beginning. Hougan pointed out that Bitcoin has fallen approximately 39% from its October 2025 all-time high, Ethereum has declined about 53%, and many other digital assets have fallen even further. He believes that the current phase can be compared to the crypto winters of 2018 and 2022, characterized by excessive leverage and early holders generally taking profits, with negative sentiment outweighing incremental positives; although Bitcoin peaked in October 2025, the market’s actual weakness began in January 2025, only masked by strong ETF and digital asset treasury fund inflows. Without this support, Bitcoin’s decline could approach 60%.

Despite the market weakness, Hougan believes that the crypto ecosystem continues to make structural progress in regulation, institutional adoption, stablecoins, and asset tokenization. Looking back at historical cycles, crypto winters tend to end in despair and stagnation rather than reversing in excitement, and current sentiment is similar to past market bottoms. Although the timing is uncertain, considering that this correction has lasted over a year, along with potential positive catalysts such as strong economic growth, the passage of regulatory bills, and signs of sovereign adoption of Bitcoin, he believes the market is closer to recovery rather than further decline.