What are the two crypto bets Bitwise’s CIO says are best positioned?
The two themes are revenue-generating crypto applications and established financial firms building on blockchain rails. The core idea is that the next phase of the market may reward assets and businesses with clear cash flow, real usage, and direct exposure to the onchain economy.
That shift matters because it moves the conversation away from pure narrative-driven speculation and toward assets tied to measurable activity. In a market that is increasingly maturing, tokens and companies with identifiable economic engines may attract capital more consistently than projects relying only on future adoption stories.
How does revenue-backed tokenomics work?
Revenue-backed tokenomics links a token’s value to actual platform usage, often through buybacks, fee sharing, or direct ecosystem demand. When a protocol generates real revenue, the token can benefit not only from sentiment but from an ongoing financial mechanism that reduces supply or increases demand.
A well-known example in this category is Hyperliquid, a Layer 1 blockchain paired with a perpetual futures trading platform. The platform is running at an annualized revenue pace of nearly $800 million, and the protocol directs almost all of that toward buying back its native token. That creates a powerful feedback loop: more trading volume can mean more revenue, which can mean more buybacks, which can support token price.
That model has already shown why traders care. The token has reportedly gained about 146% year to date even as much of the broader crypto market has struggled. For investors, that relative strength suggests the market is rewarding projects with visible product-market fit rather than simply betting on future adoption.
Why does this matter for traders heading into the next bull market?
It matters because bull markets rarely lift all assets equally. Historically, the strongest performers tend to be those with the clearest narratives, the best liquidity, and the most obvious fundamental catalysts, and the current environment appears to be favoring projects with real economic activity.
Revenue-bearing crypto apps offer a more defensible thesis than many early-stage tokens because they can be evaluated using traditional metrics like growth, margins, and capital return. For traders, that creates a more structured way to think about valuation, especially when compared with assets that have little more than community hype or roadmap promises.
There is also a behavioral angle. If a protocol can show recurring usage and tie token economics to that usage, it may attract a broader investor base, including market participants who previously stayed on the sidelines because crypto looked too speculative. That can deepen liquidity and extend the duration of a rally.
What is the blockchain rails opportunity?
The second bet is that traditional financial firms built on blockchain infrastructure may become one of the most compelling opportunities of the next cycle. Instead of replacing finance outright, the more realistic near-term path may be firms that use blockchain rails to make payments, settlement, trading, and asset issuance faster and cheaper.
This thesis is tied to three major trends: stablecoins, tokenization, and 24/7 trading. Stablecoins can move dollar-like liquidity around the clock, tokenization can bring real-world assets onto programmable networks, and continuous trading can make crypto markets more efficient and globally accessible. Together, those features may help blockchain infrastructure become embedded into mainstream finance rather than remain a separate niche.
For investors, that means the opportunity may not be limited to native crypto tokens. It could also include public companies, fintech platforms, exchanges, and infrastructure providers that adopt blockchain tech to improve efficiency or open new revenue streams.
How could stablecoins and tokenization reshape market structure?
Stablecoins are already one of crypto’s clearest product-market fits because they solve a simple problem: moving value quickly without the volatility of native tokens. As adoption grows, they can become the settlement layer for everything from trading to remittances to treasury management.
Tokenization goes a step further by converting ownership rights in assets such as treasuries, funds, private credit, or real estate into digital tokens. If that trend accelerates, it could increase trading efficiency, reduce settlement friction, and expand access to assets that were previously difficult for everyday investors to buy or trade.
Meanwhile, 24/7 trading is one of crypto’s most important structural advantages over traditional markets. In an environment where capital can move at any hour, the infrastructure that supports continuous liquidity may become more valuable, especially as institutions increasingly interact with digital assets.
- Stablecoins can improve speed and flexibility in payments and settlements.
- Tokenization can expand the range of assets accessible onchain.
- Continuous trading can create deeper, more efficient markets.
Why are these themes attractive in a maturing crypto market?
They are attractive because they align with a market moving from speculation to utility. In earlier cycles, many of the biggest gains came from simple exposure to beta and momentum, but as the ecosystem matures, capital often rotates toward projects with durable economics and practical use cases.
That does not mean speculation disappears; it means the most resilient winners may be the ones with a business model. A protocol generating hundreds of millions of dollars in annualized revenue, or a financial firm using blockchain to cut costs and expand functionality, offers a clearer path to valuation support than a token whose only catalyst is a future roadmap milestone.
For portfolio construction, that suggests a barbell approach may make sense. On one side are high-upside crypto-native applications with strong token mechanics. On the other are established companies and financial infrastructure names that can capture blockchain adoption without needing full market-wide euphoric conditions.
What should investors watch next?
Investors should watch three metrics closely: revenue growth, token value capture, and institutional adoption. These are the signals most likely to separate durable winners from temporary market favorites.
For crypto-native applications, the key question is whether usage keeps rising fast enough to sustain buybacks, fee accrual, or other forms of token demand. For blockchain rails, the focus should be on whether major firms move beyond pilots and begin deploying real products at scale.
It is also worth monitoring whether the market begins to reward cash-generating protocols with premium valuations similar to those seen in traditional tech and fintech. If that happens, tokens with strong economics could outperform not only other crypto assets but also many early-stage software and payments names.
Key Takeaway
The next bull market may be shaped less by pure narrative and more by real revenue and financial infrastructure adoption. Crypto apps with strong tokenomics and established firms building on blockchain rails both fit that pattern, and each has a clear path to capturing value if onchain activity keeps expanding.
For investors, the message is straightforward: the market is increasingly rewarding crypto businesses that behave like businesses. If stablecoins, tokenization, and 24/7 trading continue gaining traction, the winners may be the projects and firms already turning blockchain usage into measurable economics.