Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise Asset Management, has challenged the relevance of the traditional four-year crypto market cycle, predicting a sustained boom in 2026 driven by institutional adoption, regulatory clarity, and ETF-driven capital flows rather than historical patterns tied to Bitcoin halvings [1]. This outlook, articulated across multiple platforms, signals a structural shift in the crypto market’s dynamics as macroeconomic forces and institutional capital increasingly overshadow speculative retail-driven cycles [2].

Hougan emphasized that the diminishing influence of Bitcoin’s halving events—once a primary driver of price surges—reflects weakening cyclical forces. “Every halving is half as…