I think one of the big reasons this cycle has felt so brutal can be summed up in one chart:
Retail never came back.
Everyone was waiting for a 2021-style alt-season that never arrived. Meanwhile BTC just kept grinding higher for three years while alts bled out against it.
This chart from @intocryptoverse shows social risk:
Blue = low social interest
Red = high social interest
And here’s the wild part:
If BTC really topped in October at ~$126k… nobody cared.
Social interest was sitting at levels you’d normally see in a bear market — not the peak of a euphoric bull.

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[Legislative Regulation] Since May 2025, the United States and Hong Kong have been racing to advance stablecoin legislation, sparking a global surge in legislation related to stablecoins and crypto assets (also known as "cryptocurrencies" or "virtual currencies"). Numerous institutions and capital are flocking to issue stablecoins and invest in crypto assets, leading to heated debate about whether China should fully promote stablecoin legislation and the development of RMB stablecoins (including offshore ones). Furthermore, after the US legislation prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar, the question of whether China should continue to promote the digital RMB has become a hot topic of discussion.

For China, this involves the direction and path of national monetary development...

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