Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley: For the first time in over 8 years in crypto, I see 'substantial progress ahead of price'
Hunter Horsley claims that crypto has achieved substantial breakthroughs ahead of price.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley stated that for the first time in over 8 years in crypto, he sees 'substantial progress ahead of price.'
He believes that the current crypto industry is entering a phase of system upgrades, with progress reaching an irreversible level.
Buying interest will lean more towards infrastructure, compliance gateways, and institutional products, while selling pressure comes from short-term funds that still treat crypto as purely price-driven trading; the market is beginning to price based on 'usage' rather than 'price increase.'
Source: Public information
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Horsley has historically viewed Bitcoin and crypto as a repricing process for a long-term asset class. Bitwise's core actions in recent years have focused on promoting spot ETFs, institutional allocations, and the acceptance of on-chain assets by mainstream finance. This statement continues his consistent framework: it is not the coin price that changes first, but the market structure.
In terms of capital pathways, the real change lies in the sources of funds and the structure of participants: shifting from retail sentiment-driven to ETF, custody, asset management, and enterprise-level demand-driven. This phase often manifests as infrastructure and compliance products maturing first, with prices lagging behind, which is what he means by 'substance ahead of price.'
A comparable historical case is the early internet's phase of 'first users, then valuation,' or cloud computing completing industry penetration before profit realization. Currently, crypto seems to be in a phase of 'institutional access' rather than a simple bull-bear switch, with the focus not on short-term fluctuations but on who can embed assets into the traditional financial system.
Essentially, this is a reconstruction of the industrial chain: as payment, custody, ETFs, stablecoins, and on-chain settlement gradually integrate into mainstream institutions, value capture will shift from speculative trading to infrastructure and distribution gateways. This shift occurs because crypto is transitioning from a fringe asset to a financial pipeline, with price being the last layer of reflection.
ABAB News · Law of Cognition
- Price will be late; structure arrives first.
- A true bull market occurs first within the system.
- Assets accepted by institutions will see valuations catch up.