Bitcoin tends to lead the bull cycle, while altcoins lag in the early stages. As the cycle progresses, altcoins tend to gain momentum and outperform Bitcoin toward the end of the cycle. We refer to these as "Phase One" and "Phase Two" of the bull market.

Importantly, in the past two cycles, altcoins have contributed the majority of value creation. In the 2015-2018 cycle, altcoins accounted for 66% of the total growth in cryptocurrency market capitalization. In the 2018-2021 cycle, altcoins contributed 55%.

So far in this cycle, altcoins account for 35% of the overall market growth.

Bitcoin has long benefited from regulatory clarity—not only in its classification as a commodity but also in its well-known role as "digital gold." This has been a key driver of Bitcoin's outperformance over altcoins in the early stages of this cycle. Altcoins have historically faced greater regulatory uncertainty, which has only recently begun to improve. Under the new U.S. administration, this landscape is shifting, with significant progress being made in advancing digital asset innovation.

The clarity and tailwinds that have historically favored Bitcoin are now beginning to extend to altcoins. The market is starting to reflect this.

As regulatory victories accumulate, momentum is building. Last month, President Trump signed the GENIUS Act, paving the way for the flourishing of U.S.-regulated stablecoins, which are poised to become the engine for global financial transactions. The CLARITY Act, passed by the House, aims to establish clearer boundaries between digital commodities and securities, helping to resolve long-standing jurisdictional uncertainties between the U.S. SEC and the CFTC. A transformation is underway, and there is good reason to believe that non-Bitcoin tokens will be among the biggest beneficiaries.

Innovation and development are accelerating, particularly in the area of tokenization. Robinhood recently launched stock tokens powered by Arbitrum, aiming to democratize stock trading and create more efficient markets. Major U.S. banks like Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan are exploring issuing their own stablecoins. BlackRock's BUIDL fund has accumulated $2.3 billion in tokenized Treasuries. Figure has processed over $50 billion in blockchain-native RWA transactions. Beyond tokenized Treasury funds, Ondo plans to list over 1,000 tokenized stocks on the NYSE and Nasdaq through Ondo Global Markets. The migration to on-chain is in full swing.

Ethereum Drives Non-Bitcoin Market Share Growth

A significant portion of real-world assets is flowing into Ethereum. Of the $260 billion stablecoin market, 54% of stablecoins are issued on Ethereum. 73% of on-chain Treasuries are on Ethereum. DAT is accumulating ETH at an unprecedented rate. Wall Street is gradually recognizing this, and demand for ETH is soaring.

The price of Ethereum denominated in BTC has risen 103% since bottoming in April 2025.