As the crypto market shifts from sporadic retail sentiment-driven activity to steady institutional capital inflows, everything is quietly changing. Grayscale's latest market outlook indicates that 2026 will be a pivotal turning point for the digital asset market, driven by two main factors: the demand for alternative value storage tools in macroeconomics and clearer guidance brought about by increasingly完善监管框架.
Market Background: From Retail Cycles to Institutional Capital
Over the past 15 years, crypto assets have evolved from a single asset, Bitcoin (BTC), into an emerging asset class with millions of tokens and a total market capitalization of approximately $3 trillion. During this process, the market has experienced four distinct cyclical adjustments, almost all following a 4-year pattern—closely related to Bitcoin's halving events that occur every four years.
But now, the situation is undergoing a fundamental change. Compared to the historical annual gains of over 1000%, the current cycle is