In our last crypto edition, we weren’t exactly bullish on altcoins. Too much froth, not enough fundamentals.

But things change, and it’s looking like the time may be here. The signals are getting louder!

Altcoins are starting to follow Bitcoin’s lead—just like they have many times before.

We're not sold on everything. But a few are flashing serious signs of strength: inflows, infrastructure upgrades, and the kind of regulatory movement that clears a path for institutional money.

Let’s walk through what matters.

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Bitcoin did its job in Q1 and Q2:

📈 It ran first and set the tone for the rest of the market.

Spot BTC ETFs brought in $6B in July alone, helping BTC punch past $60K again.

That rally has cooled (thanks Powell), but the rotation is already happening:

Institutions are moving down the risk curve. This is what the start of altcoin season tends to look like—Bitcoin dominates, then ETH picks up, then others like SOL, XRP, and many more start to run.

And did you see how Ethereum broke $4,000 yesterday for the first time since December?

So… we’re somewhere between between BTC dominating and ETH taking center stage.

It used to be simple:

But we’re probably not playing that game anymore. Matt Hougan, CIO at Bitwise, says the game has changed:

“The halving is statistically half as important every four years.”

Hougan also notes that interest rates are favorable for crypto this time instead of against it—and that institutional ETF investment is typically carried out on a 5-10 year timeline. Much slower than the crypto industry is used to, but also a much longer cycle length.

So Matt thinks we’re in a new kind of crypto market cycle, and we think he might be on to something.

Today’s biggest drivers look more like this:

It’s super important to remember: this cycle isn’t just about traders. It’s about capital allocators.

Institutional investment is THE narrative right now.

You can see it in the filings. You can see it in the infrastructure. You can see it in Paypal letting users pay with over 100 cryptos.

Crypto is being slotted into the system—not stuck outside it anymore.

BTC might remain the king—but it’s a yield-less one.

The real benefit to altcoins is staking, and institutions might be starting to catch on.

Staking is how certain blockchains (like Ethereum and Solana) secure the network. You lock up your tokens to help validate transactions—and in return, you earn rewards.

Think of it like earning interest for helping keep the system running.

The more you stake, the more you can earn. And unlike Bitcoin, which doesn’t support staking, many altcoins do—which is why they offer built-in yield.

So…

Right now, ETH and SOL ETFs don’t include staking exposure (except SSK, which is an exception under the Company Act of 1940). But that’s expected to change. Blackrock’s already filing for an ETH ETF with staking. And when it does, the dynamics might shift fast.

That kind of yield, at scale, turns coins into income-generating assets—something Bitcoin simply can’t offer to Wall Street.

And now that the SEC has confirmed that liquid staking tokens aren’t securities, the whole system just became safer and more accessible. (If you don’t know what liquid staking is, here’s an explainer video.) That announcement opens the door to liquid staking protocols like Lido, Marinade, and the rest.

Yield + clarity = institutional inflows.

And that means ETFs with staking could become a huge narrative in the next leg of the cycle—or really, they already are, under the surface.

Watch what’s being built—not just what’s being bought.

None of these moves will send a token to the moon overnight. But together, they show where the money is preparing to go.

The pipes are being laid. The big investors are testing the water. And the ETF infrastructure is forming faster than most people realize.