Institutional Slowdown Or Macro Shock? Experts Weigh In On The...
Crypto plunged over $1 trillion in weeks, but analysts say the downturn isn’t systemic and break down the macro drivers, institutional behavior and investor survival strategies.
The crypto market’s most turbulent period of 2025 resulted in a drawdown that erased more than $1.2 trillion in value and sent Bitcoin (BTC) plunging from its brief $120,000 peak to the $80,000 range.
For many investors, the speed and severity of the selloff stirred déjà vu from 2017 and 2022. This week’s episode of Byte-Sized Insight hears from experts that this downturn is different — and far less catastrophic — than the headlines suggest.
Macro analyst and author of the Crypto is Macro Now Substack Noelle Acheson argued that the latest dip is “not a big deal” and, crucially, “not systemic.” Instead, she called it a liquidity-driven correction sparked by shifting expectations around Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Acheson pointed out that Bitcoin’s supply is fixed and demand is entirely sentiment-driven.
She also highlighted an unprecedented shift: during this downturn, Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) market dominance fell not because investors rotated into safer crypto assets but because they rotated out of crypto entirely and into non-crypto markets.
To her, this is evidence that crypto is now deeply intertwined with macro forces and institutional positioning.
For Tim Meggs, CEO and co-founder of Lo:Tech, the downturn has revealed something else: maturity. Unlike past crashes that saw cascading liquidations and corporate failures within days, this drawdown has been “measured,” he said, reflecting the slower decision cycles of institutional investors now active in the space.
Related: Thirteen years after the first halving, Bitcoin mining looks very different in 2025
Meggs also outlined the real-time signals his firm monitors — volatility, open interest, liquidations and exchange activity — noting recent stabilization and early signs of renewed positioning. Corrections, he said, are not only expected but healthy: “Flushing out excess leverage isn’t a bad thing.”
Source: CoinTelegraph
