Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan believes the cryptocurrency market is poised for its most significant bull run yet, fueled by the merging of blockchain technology with traditional finance. In a recent analysis, Hougan outlined two distinct investment lanes that could dominate the next cycle: the "Hyperliquid Lane" and the "Robinhood Lane."
The Hyperliquid Lane focuses on crypto-native protocols that generate substantial revenue and tightly link token value to platform activity. Hougan highlighted Hyperliquid, a Layer 1 blockchain for derivatives, which has surpassed $1 billion in lifetime revenue and is on track to generate around $800 million this year. Notably, the platform uses 99% of its protocol revenue to purchase and burn HYPE tokens, creating a direct link between usage and token scarcity. Hougan expects more projects to adopt similar models, making revenue-to-token demand a key theme in the next cycle.
The Robinhood Lane targets established companies that are building blockchain-based services at scale. Hougan pointed to Robinhood's July 1 launch of Robinhood Chain, a Layer 2 network that allows users in 120 countries to trade tokenized stocks around the clock. Within two weeks, the network accumulated over $300 million in deposits and processed 3.6 million daily transactions. Hougan also identified other firms advancing blockchain infrastructure, including Coinbase, BlackRock, Visa, Stripe, and JPMorgan.
Hougan’s outlook is supported by improving ETF inflows, Bitcoin’s 9% gain since early July while the Nasdaq-100 fell 6%, and growing institutional interest in stablecoins, tokenization, instant settlement, and decentralized finance. While recovery is still incomplete, Hougan sees these two lanes—revenue-generating protocols and blockchain-native companies—as the investments best positioned for outsized returns.
