Over the previous few weeks I’ve seen numerous commentary, particularly on CT, “the cycle is over”, “alt season lifeless”, “bear market incoming”. In the event you hearken to retail sentiment, you’d imagine the highest is in. And but, from the structural or cycle view, the bullish argument stays very a lot alive.
Listed below are three information price contemplating proper now:
The Crypto Concern and Greed Index, which aggregates volatility, momentum, social media, dominance, and search-trends, is at the moment exhibiting excessive concern (27) in crypto.On October 10/11 2025 (relying the place you’re on this blue marble) the crypto market endured what’s being referred to as the biggest single-day spinoff, wipe-out in historical past. Over US$19 billion in liquidations, about 1.6 million merchants closed out. By no means even knew there have been that many lively merchants, appears retail are ghosting atm and bots rule all tokens.However regardless of this large de-leveraging occasion, analysts at Galaxy Digital (Alex Thorn) say the structural bull market stays intact, due to tailwinds reminiscent of AI capex, tokenisation and stable-coin progress.
So we’ve got, sentiment deeply bearish (concern), an enormous shock occasion (liquidations and leverage unwound), and structural tailwinds nonetheless in place. Traditionally, when the gang is overly bearish and structural momentum stays, the chances of the subsequent leg up improve.
Why many voices are nonetheless so bearish
Why can we hear practically 8 in 10 merchants or analysts calling for a bear market? A couple of causes:
1. Affirmation bias & narrative‐looking for
We people (and our AI instruments) search for proof that reinforces our hunches, not for what challenges them.With so many individuals positioned for a bear, their scan of charts, indicators, headlines will emphasise “danger”, “crash”, “alt-dead”. They’ll see the October 10 liquidation and say “wtf, prime is now”. However they might under-weight the information that (a) the drop was leverage-led not elementary breakdown, (b) structural flows (i.e., institutional curiosity) stay. I imply simply this week Cobie bought Echo to Coinbase for $375m and his Up Solely Podcast for $25m, hardly bear market strikes. The irony is the very instruments meant to provide readability (on-chain analytics, social-sentiment AI, and so on) can amplify bias in the event you feed them the incorrect inputs or interpret outputs by means of the lens of what you already imagine.
2. Leverage wash-out appears to be like like a breakdown
When $19 billion + will get liquidated and the market dumps 10–70% % in hours, it looks like a crash. Many interpret “liquidation occasion” = “bear market begins”. However as analysts identified, this one was triggered by skinny liquidity + heavy leverage + macro shock (US-China commerce tensions) greater than underlying demand collapse. Therefore many buyers extrapolate that value fall means cycle prime. However which may be a false sign.
3. The alt-season query
One of the frequent bear-case arguments is “Okay, possibly BTC holds up, however alt season is finished for this cycle”. And lets be actual for a second, for altcoins, the ache has been sharper and liquidity thinner. So even when BTC is structurally bullish, many really feel the broader “every part pumps” alt-season thesis has been invalidated reinforcing bearish commentary.
Why the bull situation remains to be very compelling
Given the bearish noise, right here’s why I lean towards the thesis that we’re nonetheless inside a bull construction, that means a large rally / alt-season remains to be believable earlier than a full-scale bear section hits.
Tailwinds intact
As famous, Galaxy Digital’s analysis flags AI capex, tokenisation, and stable-coin progress as structural drivers for crypto.Moreover, the narrative of AI + crypto is gathering weight: infrastructure, compute, decentralisation of AI fashions, and so on. Bloody Ocean and Fetch apart, the AI play remains to be on. These aren’t “humorous cash” narratives, they map to actual technological or geopolitical themes.
Sentiment excessive = uneven upside
When the fear-greed index is in excessive concern, typical historic logic says “consumers could start to seem, as a result of the gang is all out of bullish conviction”. In the event you purchase when everybody else is scared, your upside is bigger. Clearly not a assure, however odds shift. Each time I’ve been by means of a correct alt season its been proper after I used to be crapping myself barely, as a result of I began to query my very own ideas, and not less than thought of, possibly Im incorrect, or possibly its totally different this time. Given sentiment is so skewed to bearish, the “if a bounce occurs” situation is much less crowded, and that’s useful for upside. I reckon that is sensible.
Liquidation occasion reset the panorama
Large leverage flushes typically clear home. The October 10 occasion purged numerous short-term speculative froth, clearing the trail for the subsequent transfer. Analysts see this as “dangerous information however not cycle-ending information”. In different phrases, the crash could have set the stage for the subsequent leg up quite than signaled the top of the bull.
Cycle and construction works regardless of noise
In the event you undertake a cycle-framework, for instance in the event you take a look at the four-year rhythm of Bitcoin by way of halvings, you’ll be aware the present build-up suggests the bull section isn’t clearly over but.Even when many imagine “alt season is lifeless”, the information suggests, as soon as BTC enters its subsequent main leg, alt-season could occur after a interval of consolidation and accumulation. That means a path, nicely not less than to me of accumulation, then acceleration (BTC) into, alt-rotation.
Why the “alt-season earlier than bear market” situation deserves severe consideration
Let’s stroll by means of one believable narrative:
Accumulation PhaseAfter the leverage wash-out, main gamers quietly construct positions (BTC, ETH, chosen alts). Liquidity returns.
Up-leg / breakoutBTC breaks increased, maybe pushed by AI or narrative flows and institutional adoption. This triggers broader market confidence.
Alt-season rotationOnce the large boys (BTC/ETH) have run, capital rotates into smaller-cap altcoins looking for increased returns. Traditionally this occurs earlier than the broad bear market section. And it aint occurred but.
Cycle topSentiment flips from concern to greed to euphoria, additionally hasn’t occurred but. Leverage builds, extra froth emerges, at that time the bear case turns into dominant.
Bear & resetThe huge correction comes, cycle resets, we begin accumulation for subsequent time.
If we are literally someplace between phases 1–2, then alt-season might nonetheless be forward, not behind. And the truth that so many are bearish could also be a contrarian indicator in any other case often known as the (Opposite Cramer Indicator).
The elephant within the room, What about AI instruments & affirmation bias?
We reside in a world of unprecedented entry to information, AI-powered sentiment instruments, on-chain analytics, social-media streams. We’d assume meaning we should always have much less bias. However the reverse typically occurs and we use the instruments to bolster what we already imagine.
AI sentiment-models can course of 1000’s of tweets, Reddit threads, funding-rate shifts, whale flows, and so on. But when your immediate or body is “search for indicators of prime”, you’ll spotlight the bearish indicators.
Social media itself is topic to echo-chambers, bots, crowd psychology. AI fashions could misread hype or concern as “reality”. (Deep studying tutorial work reveals giant language fashions used for crypto sentiment nonetheless battle with bias.)
The narrative drives the filter, In the event you really feel the cycle is ending, you’ll choose the liquidation-event, the alt-failures, the tweet “market prime”. In the event you really feel the bull will proceed, you’ll emphasise tailwinds, institutional flows, and naturally cycle timing.
So the entry to AI instruments doesn’t robotically give readability, it offers extra information and extra potential to self-select.
Pragmatically, use the instruments to problem your bias, not affirm it. Ask “What proof helps the other of what I imagine?” quite than “Discover me causes I’m proper.”
Skeptics’ objections, and the way I see them
It wouldn’t be a balanced article with out acknowledging the bear case.
“Liquidity drying up / macro danger excessive”True, macro danger (charges, financial institution stress, geopolitics) is actual. And if liquidity tightens, crypto suffers. However that’s legitimate for each bear and delayed bull eventualities. The truth that structural flows stay is the counter-weight.
“Alt season already failed”Sure, altcoins have lagged and suffered heavier ache. However that doesn’t imply they will’t have a second coming. If BTC leads after which rotation occurs, we might nonetheless see a significant alt transfer.
“Cycle prime have to be close to”Cycles do prime, ultimately. However timing them exactly is near-impossible. If we assume “prime is now” we could miss a big portion of upside earlier than inevitable decline and 4 extra years of absolute agony.
My takeaway, “odds” and positioning
If I have been to boil it down, the chances of a significant bull run and alt-season earlier than full bear market are meaningfully increased than many imagine. That doesn’t imply the market will instantly explode tomorrow. It means the risk-reward skews favour bullish upside greater than bears realise for my part.
So how may you place?
Maintain conviction capital within the high-probability situation (bull tailwinds + low sentiment) however dimension fastidiously as a result of danger stays.
Use instruments (AI sentiment, on-chain flows, funding charges) to cross-check quite than to justify your bias.
Monitor for indicators of rotation, if BTC runs strongly then alts start to wake, that might be a key set off.
Keep alert for when sentiment flips to euphoria-driven. That may mark the high-risk flip.
Keep away from considering “alt scheme is lifeless ceaselessly”. As an alternative deal with the present section as presumably pre-rotation quite than post-rotation.
TL;DR
We’ve a bizarre paradox, entry to AI and information has by no means been higher, but we nonetheless see an enormous divergence of views in crypto. Why? As a result of most of us (and our instruments) are nonetheless attempting to find affirmation of what we really feel, not what the information could counsel. And in markets formed by psychology, liquidity and leverage, how we really feel issues quite a bit.
In the present day’s excessive concern, and the huge latest liquidation occasion and still-intact structural drivers create an uncommon set-up. The group thinks it’s over. The tailwinds counsel it could simply be gearing up.
Don’t dismiss a bull leg or alt-season simply since you anticipate a bear. The chances is likely to be higher than you realise.
