Wintermute: The four-year cycle is being phased out, and liquidity and investor attention are the new driving forces for the cryptocurrency market Odaily Planet Daily News: Wintermute published an article on X platform stating that the traditional four-year cycle of Bitcoin is being phased out. Market performance is no longer determined by self fulfilling time narratives, but by the flow of liquidity and the concentration of investor attention. Wintermute's OTC liquidity data shows that the transmission of encrypted native wealth will weaken in 2025. ETFs and DAT have evolved into "walled gardens" that provide sustained demand for large cap assets, but capital does not naturally rotate into broader markets. Due to the shift in interest from retail investors towards stocks, 2025 has become an extremely concentrated year, with the rebound of altcoins lasting an average of 20 days, lower than the 60 days in 2024. For 2026, in order for the market to break through the limitations of mainstream currencies, at least one of the following three things needs to happen: 1 ETFs and DAT have expanded their investment scope, and ETF applications for SOL and XRP have begun to emerge. 2. Mainstream currencies have shown strong performance, and the strong rebound of Bitcoin or ETH may generate wealth effects and spread to a wider market. 3. The attention of retail investors has shifted from stocks (AI, rare earths, quantum) back to cryptocurrencies, bringing new capital inflows and stablecoin minting. The results for 2026 will depend on whether any of these catalysts can significantly expand liquidity beyond a few large cap assets, or whether concentration will continue.