What exactly has caused this bull run of Bitcoin to repeatedly reach new highs, while altcoins keep hitting new lows?

Author: Blockchain Knight

Although this cycle’s cryptocurrency market is labeled as a bull run, the actual experience is quite the opposite. Bitcoin has hit multiple all-time highs, but the rally has been dull and lackluster, while pullbacks have been particularly severe, with alts generally crashing over 90%, causing retail investors to exit en masse.

Even core supporters question the authenticity of this “bull run,” which is considered the most challenging bull market in industry history. Bitcoin has doubled from its 2023 lows, yet the market’s soul feels hollow.

This situation stems from three core reasons.

First, institutions have completely reshaped the market landscape. Wall Street giants like BlackRock and Fidelity are not here for speculation but have taken control of cryptocurrency infrastructure, custody networks, and tokenized real-world assets, buying up all liquidity channels and compliance pathways that participants need to rent.

This “foundational adoption” has solidified the industry’s foundation but drained market vitality, clashing with the retail-driven speculative culture.

Second, MEME has led to the collapse of industry significance. Once a form of satire, MEME became the mainstream narrative from 2023 to 2025. Various “community tokens” and “animal tokens” repeatedly pumped and dumped through viral spread, turning the market into a dead-end DU scene.

Even industry veterans fell into the hype trap, and the collision of retail greed with Web3 satirical culture ultimately resulted in mutual harm.

Third, macroeconomic conditions suppressed risk appetite. Trump’s tariff policies triggered stock market pullbacks and drained liquidity, compounded by persistently high interest rates, causing funding costs to soar and capital to dry up. Risk assets like cryptocurrencies entered sideways trading. What should have been a “wealth era” for retail investors turned into a prolonged test of patience.

In the end, Bitcoin emerged as the sole survivor. With institutional capital injection and regulatory approval, it remained steady amid market collapse, confirming the resilience of cryptocurrencies.

This mature form of the bull run lacks euphoria and big pumps, instead embodying the stability expected of a financial system, yet it leaves profit-seekers feeling exhausted.

In this “hollow bull run,” the market’s creativity, retail vitality, and optimistic spirit have all become collateral damage of progress.

Ultimately, this is an industry choosing hype over practicality as a form of self-punishment, reminding us that not all cycles are meant for wealth creation—some are simply meant to leave a lasting impression of why we entered the space in the first place.