Wintermute: The crypto market needs ETFs to expand their investment scope to overcome difficulties, with top assets leading the rise and driving retail investors' attention back BlockBeats News: On January 19th, Wintermute released its latest article stating that 2025 did not bring the expected market rally, but it may be seen as the beginning of cryptocurrency shifting from speculative properties to a more mature asset class. The traditional four-year cycle model is becoming ineffective. Market performance is no longer dominated by self fulfilling time narratives, but depends on the flow of liquidity and the concentration direction of investors' focus. There was no overflow of funds from Bitcoin to Ethereum and then to the altcoin market in 2025. As retail interest shifted towards the stock market, 2025 became an extremely centralized year. The average rebound period of altcoins has been shortened to 20 days (60 days in 2024). A small number of top assets have absorbed the vast majority of the newly added funds, while the broader market is struggling. To break through the limitations of top assets in the market, at least one of the following three factors needs to occur: ·ETFs and digital asset trust funds expand their investment scope ·BTC, ETH and other top assets lead the way with strong gains ·Return of individual investors' attention (from the stock market, etc.) The final outcome will depend on whether the above catalysts can truly expand liquidity beyond a few large cap assets, or whether market concentration continues to intensify. Understanding the possible flow of capital and the required structural changes will determine the market operation logic in 2026.