Crypto markets remain roughly 13% lower than at the start of the year, with Bitcoin down around 8%. The total market cap has decreased to its lowest since April, falling below $3 trillion this week. Nonetheless, analysts see reasons for optimism.

“I recognize this year has been tough, but remember that Bitcoin was up 468% in the previous two years,” noted Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, last Thursday. He remarked that this equates to an annual return of 138%, which significantly outstrips US stocks.

“That’s an immense excess return beyond the usual expectations,” he continued. “This year simply saw you giving back a small portion of that excess.”

“It’s as if your ice cream sundae now has 55 cherries instead of 60. You’re fine!”

Feels Worse Than the COVID Crash

Futures trader Toni commented that the long-term increase coupled with the current decrease indicates that “reversion is fulfilling its role, not a bear market.”

“The ETF inflows caused the spike, and now we are merely realigning with Bitcoin’s long-term growth trajectory. This constitutes a healthy consolidation.”

These observations follow remarks from analyst Ash Crypto, who expressed that the current market scenarios feel more severe than the COVID crash, the FTX fallout, and other recent market calamities.

He did highlight several positive fundamentals developing this year, like pro-crypto regulations in the US and unprecedented stock and commodity highs, signaling potential institutional acceptance and expansion in the money supply.

“Market surges do not commence when optimism is high; they begin when exhaustion and frustration set in, prompting readiness to surrender.”

2025 has posed severe challenges characterized by front-loaded pain in various aspects—from tariffs to geopolitical unrest to erratic policies, according to crypto investor Jesse Eckel.

Don’t Panic And Zoom Out

A yearly overview of the Bitcoin chart reveals that it remains in a robust uptrend. Bitcoin is still trading at double the price from two years ago and has appreciated over 400% compared to its December 2022 valuation.

While it currently struggles in the short term, trading around $87,000—31% under its all-time high—it saw a 2.3% rise following a rate hike by the Bank of Japan.

✅ Institutions are acquiring #Bitcoin
✅ Strategies for #BTC buying
✅ Liquidity is increasing
✅ Interest rate cut upcoming
✅ QE, FED has printed $40B
✅ M2 Money Supply remains stable
✅ Global liquidity is up by +10 weeks
✅ Bitcoin Top Signal Indicators are rising