Recall that so-called bullish and bearish cycles are common components in various markets in general, and assets in particular. Bullish trends are characterized by rising coins, which attracts new investors and causes them to invest money, thus pushing rates even higher.

Bearish trends, on the other hand, are the reverse. During such periods, late investors try to exit positions at a better price, or simply end up giving up and dumping them into the red. Accordingly, in this case, Hoskinson is hinting that challenging times lie ahead for crypto investors.

What’s happening with cryptocurrencies

Cardano’s founder posted his views on Twitter. Here’s his quote from an article by news portal CryptoPotato.

Yes, it’s called a bear market. It happens. Nothing can change it. No announcement is going to change the environment. Cardano could cure cancer, give you a personal robot that plays poker and takes your grandma to church at the weekend. But even after that, the altcoin’s price would have continued to fall.

In other words, the developer does not believe in the growth prospects of the digital asset market. Moreover, such trend will be relevant even in case of active development of crypto projects. By the way, the development phase for blockchain assets is usually the most intense just during the stages of market collapse.

Cardano CEO Charles Hoskinson

Indeed, the Cardano network has seen several major upgrades relatively recently, including the launch of a so-called crosschain bridge. In addition, the coin’s block size has been increased to improve throughput. But even such positive news from a fundamental point of view was not enough to stop ADA’s decline. The coin is currently trading around $0.67. In just seven days, its value has fallen nearly 14 percent, with the asset falling at least 35.5 percent in a month.

Cardano exchange rate over the past 30 days

Another factor that may confirm fears of a bear market follows from the latest analysis by experts at the CryptoQuant platform. They stated that Bitcoin’s bullish trend stopped in July 2021 – and since then, market trends have reversed in exactly the opposite direction.

That is, the analysts confirm the digital asset niche is moving into a collapse phase. That said, their reference to July 2021 seems odd: after all, Bitcoin set its all-time record value at $69,000 in November 2021, almost six months after the mentioned summer period.

The ratio of commissions to miners’ rewards

Analysts of the company explain what is happening by the ratio of commissions and remuneration of miners. The higher the ratio, the more profitable it is for miners to do their work, as they do not need to hold additional BTC – and vice versa. As this ratio has fallen sharply from the highs of April 2021, CryptoQuant has identified what has happened as “a sign of a bear market”. Miners must now sell some of their mined bitcoins to cover costs.

Hoskinson’s words and cryptocurrency charts are reflected in the Fear and Greed Index from the Alternative portal. As a reminder, it varies between 0 and 100, where the first number indicates total panic among traders and the second indicates intense euphoria. The index is currently hovering around 10, which can be interpreted as “extreme fear”.

Current Fear and Greed Index from Alternative

The correlation between the index and prices is quite simple: the stronger the fall in the value of assets, the more panic it causes among market players and vice versa. The last time the indices were this low was on the 23rd of January, when the macroeconomic trend turned into a serious drop in the stock markets. All due to the new policy of the US Federal Reserve, which is being forced to raise its base rate in order to cope with inflation amid the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical instability in Europe.

An index of fear and greed

So what is the real "cryptozyma"? It is the process of a long decline in cryptocurrency prices, which can last for months or even years. The previous cryptozyma ended in December 2020, when the price of Bitcoin fell by at least 85 percent since it set its last all-time high around $20,000.

BTC’s projected fall

The current all-time high is fixed at $69,000, and an 85 percent drop would mean BTC would fall to around $10,100. Could a bearish trend of this magnitude be repeated in the foreseeable future? Many experts disagree with that view. For example, Avalanche blockchain project creator Emin Gun Sirer said a month ago that a classic bear market for cryptocurrencies is not expected in the near future. Here’s his rejoinder from Twitter.

I continue to maintain that the deep bearish trends that traders are so used to will not happen anytime soon. But that’s OK, keep believing that and bypass the massive upside phases.

Bulls versus bears in the cryptocurrency market


We believe that the cryptocurrency industry could indeed go into a local bearish trend. In other words, a recession, collapses and other unpleasant things could await the coin sphere. However, the prospect of a multi-year collapse is hard to believe right now, because the digital asset niche has become littered with so many useful services and platforms that can be used on a daily basis. Therefore, there is a possibility that a serious interest in digital assets will, to a certain extent, insulate them from long-term problems.

However, it's important to consider the situation in traditional finance and the world at large here. If things go badly there, crypto is unlikely to magically make investors invest in itself. Predicting anything here is almost impossible, though.


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