Golden Finance reported that Santiment analyst Brian Quinlivan said in an interview on Wednesday that the analysis firm “saw expectations on social media for Bitcoin’s next ‘all-time high’.” Since the market usually runs counter to the expectations of retail investors, this usually means that we are not ready for the next bull market.
Quinlivan suggests that since there are not many skeptical voices, historical highs often do not follow closely. However, as Bitcoin has approached historical highs many times, market sentiment has entered a relatively low level, which may push Bitcoin to break through the current high.
According to CoinMarketCap, as of the time of this article’s publication, the trading price of Bitcoin is $109,679, just 2.1% away from its historical high of $111,970, which occurred on May 22.
However, Quinlivan also pointed out that Bitcoin might face some challenges in the third quarter and its performance might be relatively weak. From the perspective of market cycles, Bitcoin has experienced a significant increase previously. After a rapid rise, it often enters a period of consolidation or correction. Looking back at past trends, after prices have soared, the market needs time to digest the gains and rebalance the forces of bulls and bears. Currently, the price of Bitcoin is fluctuating at a high level, and the trading volume has not remained at a high level for a long time, indicating that the market’s willingness to chase the rise has weakened. This might be one of the signals that the price will be weak in the future.
Furthermore, the uncertainty of the macroeconomic environment also puts pressure on Bitcoin. The monetary policy trends of major economies around the world are unclear. If some countries tighten their monetary policies, market liquidity will be affected. As a risky asset, funds may flow out of Bitcoin’s market and be redirected to more stable assets. Moreover, the dynamics at the regulatory level have always been a significant influencing factor in the Bitcoin market. Recently, there has been a strengthening trend in the regulation of cryptocurrencies in various countries. Any slight change in regulatory policies may trigger panic selling in the market.
In contrast, Quinlivan believes that investors can pay attention to the “catch-up” opportunities of Ethereum. Ethereum witnessed a series of positive development trends in 2025. In terms of technological upgrades, Ethereum completed the Pectra upgrade at the beginning of the year. This upgrade significantly optimized the Layer 2 solution, greatly enhanced network performance and reduced transaction costs. These technological improvements have greatly enhanced the appeal of Ethereum to developers and users, enabling the ecosystem to expand rapidly. More and more decentralized finance (DeFi) projects and non-fungible token (NFT) projects are built on Ethereum, driving up the demand for Ethereum’s usage and thereby providing strong support for its price.
At the market level, institutional investors are increasingly interested in Ethereum. The success of the Bitcoin spot ETF in 2024 attracted a large amount of institutional funds to the cryptocurrency market, and Ethereum is expected to launch a similar ETF product in 2025. Especially in the situation where the regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies in the United States may become more favorable due to political changes and other factors, once the Ethereum ETF is approved, it is expected that a huge amount of funds will flow into the Ethereum market.
From the perspective of the cyclical patterns of the cryptocurrency market, although the price trends of Bitcoin and Ethereum are correlated, Ethereum will have independent “catch-up” rallies at certain stages. When Bitcoin rises to a certain stage and enters a consolidation period, funds often seek new value 洼地. As the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum usually becomes the direction of capital inflow, initiating the “altcoin season” and experiencing a rapid price increase. Currently, Bitcoin is close to its historical high and is in a relatively sensitive position. However, the price of Ethereum still has considerable room for growth. In the third quarter or even the second half of the year, it is expected to achieve a significant price catch-up by leveraging its own advantages and changes in the market environment, bringing potential returns to investors.
For investors, in the current market environment where Bitcoin is fluctuating at a high level and its outlook is uncertain, while Ethereum holds opportunities, reasonably adjusting the investment portfolio and appropriately allocating Ethereum can be regarded as a strategy to deal with the complex market. However, it should also be borne in mind that the overall risk of the cryptocurrency market is relatively high, with sharp price fluctuations. Investment decisions should be based on one’s own risk tolerance and in-depth research of the market.
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