Crypto faces ‘starkest’ gap between sentiment and fundamentals: BlockTower

The major disconnect between crypto traders’ growing short-term market uncertainty and crypto builders becoming more bullish than ever creates a prime setup for long-term investors, according to a crypto hedge fund founder.

“This is one of the starkest divergences I’ve seen in sentiment and fundamentals,” BlockTower Capital founder Ari Paul said in a March 14 X post.

Optimism grows among those beyond crypto natives

Paul said that while traders and analysts have turned bearish on crypto recently, crypto developers — and more broadly, those working for crypto companies less focused on the market cycle itself — remain much more bullish.

“All the data points I’m hearing from basically any crypto-related project or company that doesn’t rely on “natives” near-term is positive,” Paul said.

Based on this, he’s confident that crypto is a “good buy” over the “12 month timeframe” but isn’t sure if it has reached a short-term bottom yet. Crypto analyst Matthew Hyland recently said the only way for Bitcoin to confirm that the bottom is actually in would be to close a week back above $89,000.

However, on March 14, the broader crypto market rose slightly, giving traders a bit more short-term confidence.

Bitcoin (BTC) spiked 3.16% to $84,638 over the 24 hour period, while Ether (ETH) rose 1.79% and XRP (XRP) jumped 6.01%, according to CoinMarketCap.

Over the same 24 hours, the Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which measures overall crypto market sentiment, surged 19 points to 46, which is still in the “Fear” zone but nearing neutral territory.

MN Trading Capital founder Michael van de Poppe said Bitcoin’s price spike over the past 24 hours has strengthened his confidence in the asset resuming its uptrend by June.

Crypto market presenting opportunity for “sustainable value” investments

“Clearly made a higher low, clearly touching the highs,” van de Poppe said in a March 14 X post.

Related: Bitcoin bull market in peril as US recession and tariff worries loom

“It’s very likely that we’re starting a new uptrend on the lower timeframes going into a good Q2,” he added.

Paul also said it may be the right time to explore traditional venture capital crypto investments with a longer-term outlook.

“A good time to be looking for “traditional” style VC crypto investments.  By “traditional” I mean longer term, genuinely focusing on sustainable value creation, no quick monetization scheme,” Paul said.

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