Institutions are ‘locked out’ until an altcoin become a major pair: Analyst

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

---

Let’s look ahead and forget about bitcoin (briefly) sliding under $100k, shall we?

For Amberdata’s Greg Magadini, any altcoin szn is currently set to give retail a potentially profitable run. Though, clearly, this is crypto, and everyone should maintain caution. 

Anyway, he pointed out that altcoins offer regular investors a “more even playing field” than the stock market does. 

“If you think about a company that goes public, typically there are VCs that are early stage investors, there’s a Series A, B, C, so on, so forth. Then there’s an IPO, and then retail buys at the very, very tail end. In crypto, it’s actually the opposite. Its retail is in Discords — small teams essentially talk to their Discord communities to launch a token, and often retail is the first one to be in the market, so they essentially have an information advantage,” Magadini explained. 

“And so that’s what makes this market very interesting: as a small player, you can invest and be at the forefront of value creation. But obviously the volatility can be crazy, and there’s a lot more scams. There’s no regulation along the way. Basically, you are kind of on your own.”

Magadini said that bitcoin — though volatile — is the lowest volatility asset for crypto right now, and also has the benefit of being the biggest market in which most people, and institutions, with crypto exposure are in. 

This opens the door for a potential altcoin rotation to have a “higher beta performance,” where bitcoin can go 2x, and altcoins go 10x, Magadini said. 

The good news for retail this cycle is that, despite seeing institutional action in bitcoin and ether, Magadini said he thinks institutions are still “locked out” until we see an altcoin become a major pair.

---

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

• Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
• Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
• Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
• 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
• Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
• The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
• Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.