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Date: 2025-02-25 15:19:37
Matt Hougan, the chief investment officer of Bitwise, an asset management firm, asserts that the current slump in the crypto market signals the demise of the meme coin craze.
Although Bitcoin (BTC) slid to a three-month low, below $90,000, Hougan is optimistic about its recovery. However, his optimism does not extend to meme coins.
Hougan posits that the meme coin frenzy, which peaked earlier this year with Official Trump and Official Melania, is on its last legs. He anticipates this could transpire within the next half a year.
"What crypto is grappling with at the moment is the conclusion of the memecoin boom. The fusion of Melania, Libra, and the Lazarus Group utilizing memecoins to launder pilfered ETH will extinguish it. Perhaps not immediately, but within half a year," he wrote on X.
The crypto market recently witnessed over $1.5 billion in liquidations within 24 hours, with meme coins bearing the brunt of the losses.
Dogecoin (DOGE), Pepe (PEPE), and TRUMP (TRUMP) each plummeted by more than 14%. MELANIA plunged by over 25%.
Hougan, who previously forecasted that Bitcoin could break its four-year cycle due to regulatory and strategic reserve advancements, suggests that the negative sentiment surrounding meme coins is weighing down the market. Nevertheless, he remains hopeful about Bitcoin, stablecoins, and tokenization. He also foresees a resurgence of decentralized finance.
Read More: "Solana Drops 50% from Peak after Meme Coin Trading Decreases"
Adopting an optimistic stance in his tweet, Hougan declared:
"The positive news is that there are already elements poised to take its place, such as institutional Bitcoin adoption, stablecoins, tokenization, and a DeFi rebirth. However, until they start asserting their influence, the loss of momentum will impede the market."
Despite this, the Bitwise executive concedes that the overall market sentiment remains predominantly negative, attributing recent meme coin scandals like LIBRA as a contributing factor.
Nonetheless, he remains bullish on altcoins.
In a client report in early February, Hougan pointed out that crypto offers an opportunity amid projections for bullish institutional adoption and significant retail bearishness. He proposed that altcoins could capitalize on this situation, especially as leading cryptocurrencies experience a surge of spot exchange-traded fund filings.
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