PANews July 10 news, according to The Block, Bitwise senior investment strategist Juan Leon said that the current Bitcoin bear market is fundamentally different from past cycles, with institutional adoption accelerating. Bitwise clients fall into two categories: investors who have held Bitcoin for more than two years see the decline as an “opportunity to add positions,” while other large capital is still waiting for clearer regulatory signals.
Leon described the 50% drawdown as Bitcoin’s “mildest structural bear market,” compared to 78% in 2022 and 84% in 2018, noting that “the bottom is lifting every cycle.” He pointed out that multiple bottom signals are emerging: oversold momentum indicators, roughly half of holders sitting on unrealized losses, long-term holders re-accumulating, record ETF outflows in June, and more. Leon believes crypto’s problems are more macro than fundamental—sticky inflation, geopolitics, and AI capital diversion—but AI and crypto are becoming more complementary, with agentic AI beginning to rely on programmable money and stablecoin payments. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan expressed a similar view last week, arguing that the sell-off in STRC reflected an end-of-cycle deleveraging process, which historically often heralds the start of a new bull market.
