CZ says the crypto bear market could end soon

The crypto market has been brutal lately. Bitcoin is deeply in the red, sentiment is at extreme fear, and mainstream commentators are once again calling the end of crypto. Yet under the surface, some of the biggest players in finance and tech are quietly building for the next phase of the cycle — and even Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao is hinting the bear market may not last much longer.

Bitcoin is deeply oversold, but cycles don’t last forever

Bitcoin’s price action has pushed many indicators into historic oversold territory. On daily charts, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is heavily depressed, reflecting just how aggressive the recent sell-off has been.

At the same time, sentiment indicators are flashing extreme fear. Headlines from mainstream personalities and financial commentators are dusting off the familiar “Bitcoin is dead” narrative — something long-time crypto users have seen many times before in previous bear markets.

Market cycles, however, never move in a straight line. When sellers are exhausted and fear dominates the narrative, conditions often set up for a strong countertrend move. That doesn’t mean new all-time highs are around the corner, but it does suggest the current downtrend won’t last forever.

For a deeper dive into how these phases typically unfold, it’s worth looking at how Bitcoin behaves in the later stages of a bear market.

CZ: “Bitcoin won’t be dead for too long. Don’t panic.”

Adding to the contrarian signals, Binance founder CZ recently posted a simple message: “Bitcoin won’t be dead for too long. Don’t panic.” Coming from the head of the world’s largest crypto exchange, it’s a reminder that industry insiders are still thinking in cycles, not headlines.

The message aligns with what the charts and sentiment are already suggesting: the current pain is real, but it’s also part of a familiar pattern. Historically, extreme fear and capitulation have often preceded strong relief rallies and, eventually, new bull phases.

VCs are buying the dip: Morpho raises $175 million

While retail traders panic, venture capital and institutions are doing the opposite — deploying capital at lower valuations. A prime example is Morpho, a DeFi lending protocol that just raised $175 million from heavyweights like Paradigm, a16z, and Ribbit Capital.

Morpho already manages around $11 billion in deposits and powers on-chain credit infrastructure for major exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken. If you’ve ever borrowed against your Bitcoin or other crypto assets on certain platforms, there’s a good chance Morpho’s tech was involved behind the scenes.

This level of fundraising in the middle of a bear market shows where smart money is focused: building the rails of on-chain finance while prices are low and attention is elsewhere.

Big banks are all-in on tokenized money

Traditional banks are no longer ignoring blockchain — they’re racing to build their own versions of on-chain money and settlement systems.

In Japan, the three largest banks — MUFG, MSBC, and Mizuho — plan to jointly issue a stablecoin by fiscal 2026. This follows reports that giants like JPMorgan and Citi are working on tokenized deposit systems designed to compete with existing stablecoins.

Some of these systems will run on private blockchains, others on public chains, but one thing is clear: banks have realized they can’t fully bypass public networks. That’s where the liquidity and global settlement activity already are. Even if they build internal consortia and private networks, they still need to bridge into public blockchains to access real liquidity and counterparties.

This trend is part of a bigger shift, where banks, asset managers, and traditional financial firms are exploring tokenized assets, on-chain settlement, and blockchain-based financial infrastructure. If you’re wondering whether big banks are quietly moving into crypto, you’re not imagining it — they are, and often faster than most people realize, as explored in this look at how large institutions are approaching crypto.

Chainlink powers FIFA World Cup prediction markets

Blockchain adoption isn’t just happening in banking and DeFi. It’s also moving into entertainment and sports.

Chainlink, the leading oracle network, will power the official FIFA World Cup prediction market partner. This integration enables instant payouts and reliable market resolutions for potentially billions of football fans worldwide.

Chainlink’s technology is already widely used by DeFi protocols and competing blockchains, and increasingly by traditional finance (TradFi) players as well. This kind of real-world integration shows how oracles are becoming critical infrastructure for connecting blockchain applications to real-world data and events.

TradFi, AI, and on-chain private credit

Another major trend is the convergence of traditional finance, blockchain, and artificial intelligence. One TradFi firm, working with AI agent developer W3, plans to deploy $650 million in private credit on-chain over the next four years.

The focus is on U.S. equipment financing in sectors like manufacturing, industrial electrical infrastructure, and residential solar. AI will help assess risk, conduct due diligence, and price loans — allowing small and mid-sized businesses to get financing in a single day instead of waiting months.

The initiative will start with off-chain funding from traditional private credit lenders, then add a tokenized liquidity pool for on-chain equity investors. This is a preview of how future credit markets may work: AI-driven risk analysis, tokenized assets, and blockchain-based liquidity — all stitched together.

Crypto tax rules: the next big step for U.S. regulation

In the United States, lawmakers are actively debating how to handle crypto taxation. The House Ways and Means Committee recently examined several crypto tax proposals, raising questions about details such as how mined digital assets should be taxed and whether companies could game deferred taxation rules.

Clear tax guidance is critical for mainstream adoption. Even if regulatory clarity on what is or isn’t a security comes first, users and businesses still need to understand the tax implications of activities like staking, mining, and everyday payments.

Once broader crypto regulatory clarity is in place, tax legislation is likely to follow quickly. Governments are highly motivated to ensure they can accurately and efficiently collect taxes on digital assets.

Tokenized stocks and a $5 trillion on-chain market

Tokenization isn’t just about stablecoins and private credit. It’s also about bringing traditional assets like stocks and ETFs onto blockchains.

Carlos Domingo, CEO of Securitize, argues that tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds could unlock a $5 trillion crypto market, far beyond today’s roughly $30 billion tokenized asset sector. By putting stocks on-chain, markets can run 24/7, assets can be fractionalized, and investors around the world can access opportunities that were previously limited by geography or minimum investment sizes.

This could be especially powerful for people in regions where access to major stock exchanges like the NYSE is limited. With tokenization, someone could buy a tiny fraction of a share, use it in DeFi, or trade it at any time — all via a crypto wallet.

Over time, we’re likely to see the boundaries between crypto, stocks, commodities, and other asset classes blur. As more assets move on-chain, they’ll increasingly trade in a single, unified digital marketplace.

Will Wall Street run entirely on blockchain by 2030?

Some industry leaders believe this shift will happen faster than many expect. Edwin Mata, CEO and founder of tokenization platform Bricken, predicts that Wall Street will run entirely on blockchain by 2030.

He also warns that Europe risks over-regulating itself out of the race, while other regions push ahead. Mata envisions a future where traditional financial dashboards are replaced by simple chat interfaces, with AI agents handling the heavy lifting of finding the best yields and executing complex strategies in the background.

Whether 2030 is too aggressive or not, the direction is clear: capital markets, economies, and even governments are steadily moving toward blockchain-based rails. AI will likely sit on top of these rails, optimizing decisions and automating workflows.

UK moves to open mutual funds to crypto ETNs

Regulatory progress isn’t limited to the U.S. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed allowing certain retail investment funds to hold up to 10% of their assets in cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs).

These funds — known as UCITS and NURS — are roughly equivalent to mutual funds, pooling money from retail investors into managed portfolios. Allowing them to gain limited exposure to crypto ETNs is a significant step toward mainstream integration.

Critics argue that slow or restrictive rules could leave the UK behind other jurisdictions that are opening up more quickly to digital assets. Still, this proposal shows that regulators are gradually becoming more comfortable with giving everyday investors controlled access to crypto through familiar vehicles.

Why the building phase matters more than the price

It’s easy to focus only on price when the market is down. Portfolios are hurting, sentiment is low, and it can feel like the entire space is collapsing. But zooming out tells a different story.

Compared to previous cycles — 2017, 2020, or even 2021 — the current level of institutional involvement is on another level. We now have:

• Major banks building stablecoins and tokenized deposits
• Large VCs funding DeFi and on-chain credit infrastructure
• Global brands and sports organizations integrating blockchain
• Regulators working on tax rules and fund exposure to crypto
• Growing tokenization of real-world assets and stocks

On-ramps like ETFs, institutional custody, and tokenization platforms simply didn’t exist at this scale in previous bull markets. The “roads, tunnels, and bridges” for capital are being built now, during the bear market, so that when regulatory clarity arrives and sentiment flips, much larger waves of capital can enter the space.

For long-term investors, this is the time to keep emotions in check, focus on the macro picture, and pay attention to what’s being built — not just what the price chart looks like today.

The bottom line

Bitcoin is oversold, fear is extreme, and high-profile critics are once again calling crypto dead. Yet at the same time, CZ is telling people not to panic, VCs are pouring hundreds of millions into DeFi infrastructure, banks are launching stablecoins and tokenized deposits, and regulators are slowly opening the doors to broader adoption.

Bear markets are never easy to live through, but they’re often when the most important building happens. If history is any guide, the groundwork being laid now could power the next major phase of growth once this cycle turns.