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Crypto pundit Luca has provided insights into why this Bitcoin bull market feels different from other market cycles. As part of his commentary, he also described this bull market as a new era, with a shift occurring that could sideline retail investors. 

Why This Current Bull Market Feels Different 

In an X post, Luca agreed with market participants who have declared that this Bitcoin bull market feels different. He explained that in previous cycles, as the Bitcoin price climbed, active addresses surged alongside it, as retail investors flooded in to invest in the flagship cryptocurrency. However, this market cycle is different. 

The crypto pundit noted that active addresses are declining this time around, indicating that there isn’t much interest in BTC from retail investors in this Bitcoin bull market. Luca remarked that there are fewer retail participants, which is why Google searches for “Bitcoin” are at the same levels they were in the bear market. 

Luca stated that institutional players like Michael Saylor’s Strategy are now taking over, and move differently from retail investors. He suggested that this is why there are fewer wallets, larger holdings, and less noise in this Bitcoin bull market. The pundit asserted that this shift isn’t just a detail but a structural change in how the market moves. He added that this isn’t just another cycle but a new era. 

Indeed, this Bitcoin bull market has been different as it is the first with major involvement from institutional investors. Other companies have begun to adopt Saylor’s strategy, like Semler Scientific and Metaplanet, by establishing a BTC Treasury. Meanwhile, institutional adoption has also occurred through the Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock’s IBIT recently became the fastest ETF to hit the $70 billion mark in assets under management (AuM). This highlights the massive interest in BTC from Wall Street investors. 

Institutional Adoption Is Helping Stabilize BTC Price

Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas once made a case for how institutional adoption in this Bitcoin bull market has helped stabilize the BTC price. In an X post, he opined that the positive inflows, especially from BlackRock’s IBIT, explain why the flagship crypto has been stable. The analyst added that the new BTC owners are more stable. 

Balchunas also stated that over the last 15 months, ETFs and Saylor have been buying all the ‘dumps’ from the “tourists. FTX refugees, GBTC discounters, legal unlocks, and government confiscations.” Essentially, there has been a significant shift in ownership, with retail investors leaving the scene and institutional investors coming on board. 

He added that Saylor is obviously not selling and that the ETF investors are much stronger hands than most think. The analyst opined that this should increase stability and lower volatility and correlation in the long term.

At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is trading at around $104,400, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Bearish pressure still lingers within the crypto sector following recent unfavorable macroeconomic conditions, and Bitcoin has fallen sharply, with its price now hovering near the $104,000 level. The bearish tension may be growing, but key on-chain metrics show that the current bull market phase is likely to continue.

Bullish Outlook For Bitcoin Endures

Bitcoin’s strong upward move, triggering a bull market phase, has stalled after hitting a new all-time high. However, the pullback does not imply that the ongoing bull market has ended, as on-chain signals point to sustained strength.

In a recent research shared on X, Alphractal, an advanced on-chain data analytics platform, has outlined a key trend that hints at a potential for a fresh rally. “Bitcoin On-Chain Analysis Still Allows Room for a New Rally,” the platform stated.

Such a trend, which is believed to be a trustworthy indicator of market maturity, indicates that Bitcoin has more room to rise and might lead to a new surge in the coming weeks.

Alphractal’s research is solely centered on the Bitcoin On-Chain CapFlow Sentiment Index. Specifically, the key metric uses a mix of momentum and stochastic indicators with several on-chain oscillators to assess BTC’s realized capitalization.

So far, the index has shown promise in pinpointing areas where the momentum of coin flow on the network begins to lose strength, indicating distribution by smart hands. According to the on-chain platform, the same is true during periods of accumulation, which frequently align with local bottoms.

Presently, Alphractal revealed the sentiment index is hinting at a new distribution phase as it continues to grow. When this stage is achieved, the current bull cycle is expected to come to an end, and Bitcoin will be at its most extreme level.

The platform has recollected its take on October 2025 being a critical month for Bitcoin, where fractal analysis, on-chain data, and technical metrics all suggest a possible market exit opportunity. This implies that October appears to be a good contender for the cycle peak, even if Bitcoin rallies or plummets in the days ahead.

Alphractal claims that this approach is still relevant until the analysis offers a different perspective. However, in the meantime, BTC’s bull market is still strong, and a new rally could still happen.

A Major Surge To Unprecedented Levels

While on-chain data signals the continuation of the bull market, crypto analysts like Trader Tardigrade have predicted a massive surge to unprecedented levels. Trader Tardigrade’s forecast is based on a crucial price trend known as the Power of 3.

After examining the 1-week chart, the seasoned expert revealed that BTC has entered a distribution phase that would trigger a notable upswing. If the ongoing distribution phase has a 5-wave structure, wave 1 and wave may be completed. According to the expert, the most aggressive wave is coming, and BTC may run to the top in wave 5, which is positioned at the $200,000 mark.

Dogecoin may finally get its mainstream moment as Elon Musk’s quest to turn X—née Twitter—into a WeChat-style “everything app” reaches its most ambitious stage yet. In a wide-ranging interview with the Financial Times, chief executive Linda Yaccarino confirmed that users “will soon be able to make investments or trades” without leaving the platform, an upgrade that will sit inside a forthcoming digital wallet branded X Money.

The product, due to launch first in the United States later this year, will roll out in partnership with Visa and will eventually extend to peer-to-peer transfers, e-commerce check-outs and, crucially, a brokerage layer for stocks, ETFs and crypto-assets. Yaccarino framed the move as the logical next step in X’s metamorphosis.

“You’ll be able to come to X and transact your whole financial life on the platform,” she told an audience at CES in January, adding that the team is also “exploring” an X-branded debit or credit card that could arrive before year-end. The company has already secured money-transmitter licenses in forty-one states and the District of Columbia, though New York remains a conspicuous hold-out—a gap that state lawmakers are urging regulators not to fill until consumer-protection questions are settled.

A Ready-Made Dogecoin On-Ramp

For the crypto market the headline is obvious: an in-app trading rail built by Dogecoin’s most famous cheerleader. Musk’s relationship with the satirical canine token is long-standing and unusually public.

He began joking about the coin in 2019, called himself “The Dogefather” on live television in 2021, and has since let customers buy Tesla merchandise in DOGE. In October 2024, a single two-letter reply—“D.O.G.E.”—at a Pennsylvania town-hall last October still blasted the token 15 percent higher in minutes.

But after accepting a role in President Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk’s meme output slowed. Musk was named senior adviser when the agency was created on Inauguration Day, 20 January 2025, only to resign in late May amid a policy dispute over federal spending. Since leaving Washington, he has not posted about Dogecoin just once.

Even without explicit promises, the plumbing is falling into place. X’s existing partnership with eToro already lets users click a cashtag such as $DOGE and route straight to an order ticket, a capability added quietly in April 2023. The new wallet is expected to collapse that two-step flow into a single in-app trade.

The uncomfortable reality for X is that advertising revenue is still running a third below the pre-acquisition baseline. Yaccarino insists that “96 percent of former clients have returned,” and forecasts sales of $2.3 billion this year versus $1.9 billion in 2024, but that would merely claw back half the slump from 2022’s $4.1 billion haul.

However, whether Musk will once again unleash his formidable meme-making prowess to catapult Dogecoin back towards the moon—and in turn give his company’s revenue a similar lift—remains an open question. Dogecoin holders will certainly be hoping for this.

At press time, DOGE was trading at $0.168, showing no significant reaction to the news.

US President Donald Trump’s family appears to have cut its stake in World Liberty Financial by a big margin in recent weeks. Shares once held under DT Marks DeFi LLC dropped from 75% at the end of 2024 to about 40% today. That shift has caught the eye of investors watching the DeFi space.

Rapid Stake Decline Raises Questions

According to a Forbes report, the Trump family’s vehicle went from holding 75% of WLFI to roughly 60% by January 24, 2025, and then down to 40% within the past 11 days.

Those are big moves. Share percentages on a website don’t always track with legal filings. Yet a change of 35 percentage points in under six months would be hard to miss on any balance sheet.

Trading Boost Before Inauguration

Based on reports from the WLFI site, token sales for their USD1 stablecoin spiked before January 20. The project sold over $200 million worth of tokens in just 29 hours right before the inauguration. That kind of volume can drive up both interest and price. It also offers a convenient window for anyone holding a large stake to take some chips off the table.

Big Money Figures

Revenue numbers for 2024 show that DT Marks DeFi LLC pulled in $57 million from token sales alone. If WLFI’s valuation matches that of Circle at its IPO, Forbes suggests the Trumps may have turned roughly $190 million in paper value into real cash, with about $135 million flowing to US President Donald Trump himself. That’s about 70% of the total haul, by their estimate.

WLFI’s stablecoin didn’t float along on hype alone. An Abu Dhabi‑backed firm put $2 billion into the USD1 token shortly after its launch. Big government‑linked money tends to draw more attention and more buyers. It also raises questions about how a sitting president and his family balance public duties with deep ties to a foreign‑backed financial venture.

Regulatory Spotlight On DeFi Ties

Cryptocurrency firms often push for looser rules. When the head of state profits from those ventures, regulators may take a closer look. There’s no sign of an official inquiry yet. However, conflict‑of‑interest concerns could surface if White House insiders are still involved when those shares change hands.

Investors are now watching the WLFI website and waiting for formal SEC filings or public disclosures. A clear picture of who owns what will help everyone understand whether these stake cuts are part of a planned exit, a strategic shift, or simply an online typo. Markets hate uncertainty. More clarity could send WLFI tokens higher—or prompt a fresh sell‑off.

Featured image from David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images, chart from TradingView