sport football: A Tale of Two Crypto Markets

March 28, 2025 | Listen Online | Read Online

A Tale of Two Crypto Markets

Last week, I attended one of the largest crypto conferences in the world. But the people I met there seemed oceans apart, falling into one of two camps.

Here's how I would describe them…

One group is made up of the founders of altcoin projects. They're aboard a small fishing boat crossing the sea during a storm and without any life preservers. They're battening down the hatches… Just trying to survive the journey.

The other group is made up largely of Wall Street fund managers and banking executives. Their phones are ringing off the hooks with calls from clients who want to buy crypto assets. They see a shining sun on the horizon.

Both ships are sailing the same sea and in the same direction. Yet, the passengers on each couldn't feel more different about their situations.

That's because what the passengers aboard the fishing vessel perceive as a volatile storm shaking them back and forth… The passengers aboard the cruise ship perceive as a rising tide lifting all boats.

Today, I'll tell you why the guys in the cruise ship are on the right course. And if you're in the fishing boat, all you have to do is follow the big guys into port…

A Tale of Two Crypto Markets

Since 2021, I've traveled thousands of miles to dozens of crypto meetups around the world. From Miami to Lisbon to Singapore.

But last week's Blockworks Digital Asset Summit in New York was different.

The summit was held at the world-famous Javits Center. And it featured 150 of the world's most influential crypto experts, including MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and Galaxy Digital's Mike Novogratz.

Even President Trump addressed the summit on the third day.

Below is a photo I took just before President Trump addressed the crowd. As you can see, the room was so full that dozens of people were forced to stand.

Source: Houston Molnar

Despite all the heavy hitters from the crypto space, I was still surprised to see way more suits and ties than I usually do at these types of conferences.

When I go to a conference, I mainly talk to developers and founders of projects working on the bleeding edge of blockchain technology. That's where I get my best insights and investment ideas.

But last week, I spent most of my time meeting with representatives from Morgan Stanley, VanEck, Bank of America, and private fund managers.

This revealed to me the ocean-wide gulf between investor sentiment and market fundamentals in the crypto space that Daily editor Teeka Tiwari has been writing about for weeks now.

As Teeka wrote…

Over the short term, investor sentiment is the most powerful force in the market. But over the long term, it's the fundamentals of an investment that will win out. When investor sentiment diverges sharply from the fundamentals… That's when enormous economic opportunity is unlocked.

The founders and developers in the fishing boat are like retail investors. They're terrified that the bull run could be over, and they're starting to panic.

One co-founder I spoke to at a private event was infuriated with his partners because they opposed launching their token earlier this year… Now, he fears they may have missed an opportunity to cash out.

Another person I spoke to at the private event runs a marketing firm. He says there's a real panic among altcoin projects, which are cutting their marketing budgets.

Unlike the passengers aboard the fishing boat, the passengers on the cruise ship couldn't be more optimistic.

Reps from Morgan Stanley and private fund managers told me client interest isn't declining – even during the pullback in prices.

Family offices and high-net-worth individuals are still calling in and asking which digital assets they should buy.

I also spoke to reps from Bank of America. And despite the pullback in prices, it's still seeing increasing demand from institutional investors for crypto custody services.

This suggests to me that institutions are using the pullback to add to their positions and using Bank of America to custody their assets.

In addition, Bank of America plans to expand its crypto operations to stablecoins later this year.

The reps couldn't go into details on the stablecoin plan. But they said more information will be released later this year.

Stablecoins are an incredibly profitable business. So, it makes sense for big banks to go after this corner of the market.

After all, Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, just booked $13.7 billion in profits last year from basically managing a bank account.

The titans of Wall Street are salivating at the chance to take over this corner of the market. It's a massive opportunity where offshore companies are raking in easy profits.

As Big T says, the key for us isn't so much avoiding sell-offs… Because they happen all the time.

The key is making sure our analysis is so good that the price of the asset you own not only recovers when sentiment recovers – but goes on to hit new highs.

And from what I gathered at the summit, sentiment is bound to recover…

Calmer Seas Are Ahead

In my view, Congressman and Majority Whip Tom Emmer best described the current state of crypto in his address at the summit.

To paraphrase Emmer: Just last year, crypto execs were facing the threat of lawsuits and jail time. Now, they're welcomed with open arms to the White House.

That's how stark the difference is between the fundamentals under the previous administration and the fundamentals under the current administration.

When the market reawakens to the fundamental reality, we'll see sentiment shift and prices rise again.

During my trip to New York, it was painful to see the lack of optimism from small projects and altcoin investors. I get it, though.

When storm clouds gather, panic follows.

But what we're actually experiencing isn't stormy weather. What we're about to see is a rising tide lifting all boats.

Now, the tide of capital lifting all the boats isn't coming in consistently. So, if you're on a fishing vessel, the ebb and flow will seem volatile.

But for the passengers on the cruise ship, it's a tiny ripple along the ride to higher prices.

So, if you're constantly checking the price of crypto assets and find yourself in a panic, you need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

My research in New York shows institutions couldn't care less about the pullback in prices. In fact, they see it as a buying opportunity.

And so should you.

Keep Stacking Bitcoin!

Houston Molnar

P.S. Right now, we believe the best opportunities in crypto come from a subsector of the market called AI coins. Specifically, AI Agent coins.

If you don't have exposure to the AI Agent trend, you're making a huge mistake. Even a few hundred dollars spread among the top names in this space could prove to be life-changing as capital flows back into the market.

Teeka recently held a special briefing about AI Agent coins. To find out more on this emerging trend, go here to get free access to his latest research on AI Agents and how they are set to explode in value.