ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan stated in a report to clients on Wednesday that there is an interesting dichotomy between institutional and retail investors in the cryptocurrency space. On one hand, institutional investors have the most optimistic sentiment towards cryptocurrencies in history, while retail investors are sinking into despair. Investment professionals now view cryptocurrencies as a field where institutional capital is being allocated through ETFs at record amounts, and Washington has transformed from being one of the "biggest threats" to the industry to being one of the biggest supporters under the Trump administration, with nation-states potentially adopting the industry further.However, for retail investors, "it's almost like living in another reality," as Bitwise's own on-chain sentiment score shows one of the lowest readings ever. This index aligns with other sentiment indicators and the overall atmosphere of "crypto Twitter," where retail investors feel disheartened as their investments in altcoins have underperformed compared to Bitcoin, with only a few exceptions.Matt Hougan expressed his strong belief that institutions are correct, noting that so far this year, ETFs and corporations have purchased over 100,000 BTC, while the amount of BTC mined is 18,000. Moreover, in the long term, the allocation to altcoins is "stronger than at any time in history," but the situation for altcoins is more complex. As the regulatory agenda becomes clearer, the U.S. prioritizes stablecoins as a "national priority," and institutional confidence continues to grow, the crypto industry is bound to push DeFi applications to the mainstream, with impacts that are undeniable and unstoppable.

ChainCatcher news, according to Glassnode's on-chain data, Bitcoin's market capitalization reached a peak of $2.1 trillion on January 21, while altcoins (excluding Ethereum and stablecoins) peaked at $1.03 trillion on December 8 last year. Since then, Bitcoin's market capitalization has dropped by 8.2%, while altcoins' market capitalization has decreased by 29.8%, indicating a shift in capital preference.

ChainCatcher news, according to IntoTheBlock, the daily active address count for most altcoins is still far below the peak in 2021, indicating that retail traders have not yet returned to altcoins in large numbers.

ChainCatcher news, Alliance DAO co-founder Qiao Wang stated on his social platform that "perhaps we have already seen the cycle peak of most altcoins, but I believe that sometime this year BTC and a few quality altcoins will still have another significant rise."

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, crypto analyst Martinez estimates that there are over 36 million existing altcoins, compared to fewer than 3,000 altcoins during the 2018 cycle, and fewer than 500 altcoins during the 2013-2014 period.According to data from CoinMarketCap, the total number of independent cryptocurrency tokens and coins listed on the platform is about to reach 11 million. The number of newly issued tokens surged during the period from 2024 to early 2025, mainly driven by meme coins issued on the Solana network.Previously, regarding the increasing number of tokens, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated, "Given that 1 million tokens are being created every week and still growing, Coinbase needs to rethink its listing process, as evaluating each token one by one is no longer feasible."

ChainCatcher news, CryptoQuant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju stated that currently only a few altcoins have a high correlation with Bitcoin.Among them, infrastructure tokens like ETH are performing weakly, while tokens related to institutional adoption, stablecoins, and memes are performing more actively.

ChainCatcher news, Placeholder partner Chris Burniske posted on social media that the pullback in this bull market is indeed different from previous ones. BTC has hardly dropped and may drop even more, while many altcoins are in deep trouble, with prices returning to bear market lows. But pain will trigger problems, and difficult problems will bring good answers and changes.It is expected that many altcoins with "protocol profitability" will begin to seek token buyback programs or other ways to return these funds to holders, as a resistance and distinction against Meme coins.

ChainCatcher news, crypto analyst Miles Deutscher posted on X that the current market decline is more painful than during the FTX collapse in 2022.He explained that during the FTX incident, people had become numb to the declines and no longer held any hope. However, at the time of this decline, people were still expecting a massive altcoin rally. Losing hope is more painful than losing money.

ChainCatcher message, CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn pointed out that while Bitcoin has only dropped by 7%, altcoins have shown a larger decline. It is recommended to keep the proportion of altcoin investments between 5-10% based on individual risk tolerance.Maartunn stated that the current strategy of many investors holding only altcoins without any Bitcoin will expose their portfolios to excessive volatility, while the volatility of Bitcoin itself is sufficient to generate substantial returns, especially compared to traditional financial markets.

According to Bloomberg, the cryptocurrency market has been severely impacted following Trump's announcement of new tariffs. Specifically, BTC fell by 4.3% in trading last Sunday, ETH dropped by 8%, and the sell-off of altcoins was even more intense, with DOGE declining by around 14%, while altcoins like XRP, ADA, AVAX, and LINK all fell by more than 10%.Caroline Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets, stated: Trump's tariff policy is affecting the entire market, and concerns about a recession triggered by the trade war and stagflation are spreading to the altcoin and Bitcoin markets.According to a U.S. official, Trump is imposing a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, and a 10% tariff on Chinese goods, which will trigger a new round of trade wars.

ChainCatcher news, CryptoQuant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju tweeted that the era where altcoins exist merely as a measure of internet attention will end in five years. Meme coins will continue to exist as gambling products, and the status of celebrity coins will be similar to that of Pornhub actors.In addition, the altcoins that are truly being built will evolve into employment contracts for internet knowledge workers. Undeniably, these altcoins will evolve into an internet economic framework that can compensate for the value generated in the processes of information creation, distribution, and acquisition.

ChainCatcher news, 10x Research analysis suggests that Bitcoin may face supply tightening, although the market still lacks key market structure data support. They point out that there are several positive signals in the current market, including on-chain data, seasonal trends, breakout indicators, the Chinese New Year effect, a neutral Federal Reserve policy, and a crypto-friendly president. However, these factors have not yet resonated with the market structure.Additionally, 10x Research also mentioned that it has become increasingly difficult to achieve stable returns through altcoins in the current bull market. Only during the period from the U.S. elections on November 5 to the employment report on December 6/9 did altcoins perform strongly, while the subsequent hawkish statements from the Federal Reserve in mid-December put pressure on the market.

ChainCatcher news, on-chain analyst Ali tweeted that the number of altcoins has now exceeded 36.4 million; during the altcoin boom period of 2017-2018, the number of altcoins was less than 3,000, and in 2013-2014, it was even less than 500.

ChainCatcher news, Blockworks co-founder Yano cited Chainalysis data indicating that 50% of TRUMP/MELANIA holders had never purchased Solana ecosystem altcoins before. Additionally, 47% of holders created new wallets on the day of purchase, and 83.4% of the holdings are valued at less than $1,000.