Original author: Ansem
Shenchao TechFlow
Overview: When market sentiment is weak, BTC is trading sideways at high levels, and ETH continues to face pressure, claims that crypto is "over" are resurfacing. In this tweet, renowned trader Ansem offers a counterargument: poor performance of major cryptocurrencies does not equal industry decline—stablecoins, perpetual contracts, and tokenization represent the true structural narratives. For investors still uncertain about asset allocation, this is a long-term framework worth serious consideration.
Disagree; encryption is simply going through a maturation phase.
Stablecoins, perpetual contracts, and tokenization will continue to permeate the global economy, giving rise to many successful crypto startups.
Hyperliquid is just the first; it clearly demonstrates how powerful the combination of open blockchains and business tokenization can be—more will follow.
The current issue with crypto market sentiment stems from the underperformance of major coins. BTC has successfully fulfilled its mission of hedging against the persistent decline in the U.S. dollar’s purchasing power, rising from $0.01 to $100,000 per coin in less than two decades. The challenge BTC now faces is a temporary "Ponzi-like" tendency introduced by Saylor’s strategy. I believe BTC will not exhibit a clear upward trend until this issue is resolved. Additionally, concerns regarding quantum computing are genuine. Combined with institutional withdrawal of liquidity, these factors provide ample justification for long-term BTC holders to de-risk into excess liquidity—we have already seen concrete examples, such as Galaxy’s massive OTC trade (executing a $9 billion sale for a single entity in 2025). Many other individuals hold positions that have long since achieved unlimited profits.
But after BTC outperformed all assets on Earth over the past decade, a few years of underperformance doesn’t mean crypto is dead—that’s absurd.
Ethereum is also suffering for its own unique reasons. I feel I’ve talked enough about this topic, but indeed, it has been overshadowed by new entrants and hasn’t managed to position ETH as a strong long-term holding. All L1s are struggling on the demand side because historically, the narrative around these tokens has been about “future growth,” not real revenue. But now, Hyperliquid has definitively proven that it’s possible to directly connect a real business to an L1 token, leaving previous L1s at a disadvantage—they capture too little revenue from applications using their infrastructure. Ethereum’s situation is even worse, because it has outsourced execution activity to rollups.
But this doesn’t mean that no more successful crypto startups will emerge.
There is a clear trend toward improved cryptocurrency regulation, which will significantly lower the barriers for entrepreneurs building crypto businesses. At the same time, established tech companies are recognizing the advantages of blockchain, with Robinhood, Stripe/Tempo serving as clear examples.
AI has drawn away much of the attention that once belonged to crypto, and since the 2022 low, tech stocks have significantly outperformed crypto. As a trader, allocating time between stocks and crypto is extremely prudent. In the past, overweighting crypto was reasonable if you were willing to take on risk—it was an emerging industry that delivered extraordinary returns as it moved toward mainstream adoption.
Next, as AI models experience exponential advancement over the coming years, there are three underappreciated crypto tailwinds:
1) Open-source AI will become more competitive with closed-source AI
2) It will become easier for small teams to build successful startups using software.
3) Stablecoins and blockchain are superior infrastructure for AI agents to conduct transactions.
These trends叠加 mean that you’re likely to see more, not fewer, crypto experiments and token innovations—especially as the regulatory environment continues to improve and retail speculation becomes the next big trend.