Why did the collective death of counterfeit currencies occur in this cycle I'll break it down into 5 deep perspectives for you, and after reading it, you'll understand why this cycle of altcoins looks like dead people. Firstly, it indicates that the main funds are no longer willing to participate in altcoins Last cycle (2020-2021): Main players willing to allocate positions to knockoffs → sufficient liquidity → knockoffs following BTC's surge Crazy influx of retail investors → imitation into a wealth effect basin The main players earn much more (tens or hundreds of times) than BTC on knockoffs But this cycle: The main force has significantly reduced its exposure to counterfeit risks, and even stopped playing directly. Why? Because: Regulatory, review, and compliance pressures are much higher than the previous cycle, and the United States is closely monitoring encryption. Most of the SEC's knockoffs are classified as securities, and institutions cannot touch these coins at all. Exchanges are also reducing risks. The main force knows: Shanzhai may not even be able to escape in the future. So retreating early is the smartest thing. Second: Shanzhai has entered a dead structure: liquidity collapse, no one to take over the market Previously, the rise in counterfeit stocks was due to retail investors coming to take over the market, while project partners VC、 The banker is pulling the market, with strong liquidity and active trading. Now: Retail investors have been completely harvested in the first two rounds No new money to enter, no FOMO, no popularity, the community is dead VC is waiting for a large number of tokens to be unlocked in this round, but the market doesn't even have basic demand, so they can only run slowly at high levels in advance. The only source of liquidity for shanzhai - new leeks+cryptocurrency gamblers This cycle is gone. Without buying, the knockoff will naturally die. Thirdly, it indicates that the large capital structure has fully tilted towards BTC+ETH You can consider this cycle as: Cryptocurrency shifts from cryptocurrency casinos to ETF/institutionalized pendulum assets There are only two options that institutions can buy: BTC, ETH, or even just BTC Institutions will never engage in counterfeiting. Because this is a black hole of political risk, regulatory risk, and legal risk. This results in incremental funds flowing towards BTC, while zero incremental funds flow towards knockoffs Equivalent to: BTC is a 'black hole' that drains the liquidity of the entire market, causing all knockoffs to be ischemic and dead. Fourthly, the copycat logic of this cycle has been completely broken The logic of the previous cryptocurrency circle was: BTC rises → the popularity of the cryptocurrency circle rises → imitations follow suit by several times or tens of times → project parties ship → end But now it is: BTC rising → institutional buying → no retail investors following → counterfeit without popularity → no funding to undertake → project side smashing the market in reverse So you see: BTC hits new high=Shanzhai continues to decline This is the first time in the history of cryptocurrency that there has been such a clear decoupling between shanzhai and BTC. Explanation: Shanzhai coins have transformed from wealth effect tools to pure negative assets. This is not temporary, but a structural change. Fifth: Deeper - The main force is too smart, they won't play the game of knockoff anymore Previous main players: buying imitations → retail FOMO → accepting orders → main players selling → perfect cycle But retail investors are not coming this cycle The main player knows: there are no individual investors in the knockoff market=market makers killing each other=pure loss making business So the market makers simply run ahead: the project party ships ahead of schedule, VC withdraws ahead of schedule, market makers decrease, liquidity providers decrease, leveraged platforms reduce market depth, and on chain data shows that large players reduce their risk exposure, resulting in the premature death of the knockoff you see. summary The structural meaning of this cycle's altcoins is: 1) This bull market is institutional bull market, not retail bull market So the shanzhai is destined to die. 2) The main force fled ahead of schedule=they no longer play the copycat script → Indicates the end of the era of counterfeit wealth. 3) BTC is the main battlefield of the future The trend towards institutionalization is irreversible. 4) The function of shanzhai as a "wealth effect manufacturing machine" has disappeared → No longer suitable for speculation (risks far outweigh returns). 5) The 'death spiral' of shanzhai has begun: No increment, massive unlocking, liquidity depletion, early departure of market makers, zero interest of retail investors, and replacement of encrypted narratives by AI. So it is destined for a collective downward trend! What you see is not that Shanzhai is temporarily weak. What you see is that the overall system of the knockoff is disintegrating.