“As soon as Bitcoin comes back, that gives permission for what people call altcoin season,” said Danny Nelson, Research Analyst, Bitwise Asset Management. At Solana Breakpoint 2025 in Abu Dhabi, AltCoinDesk caught up with Nelson to look at digital assets from a research perspective.
The conversation started with a focus on institutional interest in the emerging asset class. Since the start of US President Donald Trump’s second term, the US’s stance toward digital assets has witnessed a complete turnaround.
Since Trump took power, the US has passed several important bills focused on crypto regulations, such as CLARITY, GENIUS, and others. However, according to Nelson, it’s the easy access to digital assets that has played a more prominent role.
As an example, he referred to Bitwise’s recent Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) that has been seeing consistent capital inflows despite the subpar market sentiment. Nelson described the current market sentiment as “tough to read.”
He reiterated that despite the recent advances in smart contract ecosystems such as Ethereum and Solana, Bitcoin still remains the king. The Bitwise analyst noted that once BTC shows strong signs of life, it will pave the way for the so-called altseason.
Further, Nelson shared some red flags that crypto researchers typically look into while evaluating the sustainability of tokenomics design. He specifically emphasized the importance of prioritizing risk awareness over hype.
He also remarked that hype should not sway investors’ due diligence. For example, at the peak of its popularity, Terra Luna was never added to Bitwise’s top 10 crypto index. Nelson noted that no one understood where the yield was coming from.
Towards the end of the interview, Nelson highlighted that proprietary automated market makers (AMMs) could be the next big frontier in the crypto industry. He highlighted how such AMMs are offering tighter spreads on trades even compared to some leading centralized exchanges like Binance and Coinbase.
