The price increases experienced until mid-December significantly bolstered the appetite for the new year. With the anticipated decrease in regulatory pressure following Trump’s inauguration, the emergence of Altcoin ETFs had many expecting an exciting January. However, this optimism turned into disappointment as the expected performance from altcoins failed to materialize.
Old Investor Profile
Having observed the previous two cycles, I can assert that current investors are different. In 2017, new investors were drawn to volatile assets for higher profits, often buying and selling spot pairs. For instance, DOGE was a popular alternative, and investors enjoyed the gains from its fluctuations.
When you met someone new to the markets back then, they would talk about trading newly listed altcoins or holding assets like DOGE. This shifted somewhat in 2021, as newcomers began engaging heavily in futures trading. Many preferred the thrill of high-leverage trading in futures over buying spot markets.
New Investor Profile
Fast forward to today, we see a new model of investors who pay around 5-6% fees to consistently buy and sell newly launched tokens within 15 to 20 minutes. The investors from 2017 are still holding spot assets, while those from 2021 have experienced significant liquidations in futures trading.
By 2025, new investors have started spending time on platforms that rapidly mint hundreds of tokens daily, driven by abnormal surges like that of Trump Coin. These worthless tokens attract demand simply because they promise potential profits in a short timeframe.
There is no longer a culture of holding for days or weeks; it’s all about quick trades. The current investor is not patient enough to wait for substantial gains like the 100-300% returns seen with DOGE in 2017. With the market dynamics today, the rapid gains observed in the past are now shifting to pump-and-dump schemes.
Will the number of tokens reach 100 million? If demand persists, it might, but at some point, these newer investors will realize that platforms operating like casinos may not yield lasting profits. The liquidity will eventually return from DeFi casinos to centralized exchanges, where a limited number of cryptocurrencies demonstrate actual utility. Once investors recognize genuine value within these assets, the real surge in altcoin prices may begin.
Whether these new investors will become willing to invest with a long-term mindset remains to be seen. However, as they seek to recover losses or satisfy their motivation for investing, the future may hold promising cryptocurrencies for those anticipating a bull market.
