[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":225},["Reactive",2],{"6Xqa4MrubZ":3,"N5z23cT08c":7,"the-crypto-thesis-is-quietly-strengthening-even-as-investor-attention-remains-on-ai":151,"_apollo:default":181},{"topBars":4},{"__typename":5,"data":6},"TopBarEntityResponseCollection",[],{"contents":8},{"__typename":9,"data":10},"ContentEntityResponseCollection",[11],{"__typename":12,"attributes":13},"ContentEntity",{"__typename":14,"slug":15,"isRestrictedContent":16,"contentUrl":17,"title":18,"blurb":19,"content":20,"publishDate":21,"timeToRead":22,"languages":23,"countries":31,"thumbnail":48,"heroImage":88,"author":98,"content_category":133},"Content","the-crypto-thesis-is-quietly-strengthening-even-as-investor-attention-remains-on-ai",false,null,"The crypto thesis is quietly strengthening, even as investor attention remains on AI ","Samir Kerbage: crypto thesis quietly strengthening despite AI rotation. On-chain transactions hit all-time highs, Q2 2026 stablecoin volume already exceeds entire 2025, RWA +60% YTD. Valuation gap widest ever. CIO: rotation temporary, crypto well-positioned for H2 reversal.","\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">In a few weeks, our team will release our quarterly Market Pulse, providing a midyear assessment of the investment case for crypto. The year has been challenging for crypto, with the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.nasdaq.com/solutions/global-indexes/thematic/crypto\">Nasdaq CME Crypto Index\u003C/a> well off its all-time highs as digital assets have struggled in recent months amid uncertainty around monetary policy, geopolitics, and other macroeconomic factors. \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"> \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Notably, capital has rotated toward AI stocks and the wave of high-profile IPOs absorbing attention. As we noted in our \u003Ca href=\"https://hashdex.com/en-US/insights/2026-crypto-investment-outlook\">2026 Outlook\u003C/a>, AI will be good for crypto over the longer term because of agentic commerce and payments, but for now excitement around AI-related businesses has led to a rotation of capital to these companies from crypto and other risk assets.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"> \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">But rotations, by definition, reverse. And as we look at the second half of the year, we believe crypto is well positioned to benefit from this reversal.  \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"> \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">I don't know exactly when this will happen—no one does—but I do know that the structural case for crypto doesn't weaken because investors are temporarily excited about something else. There is deepening institutional infrastructure, expanding regulatory clarity, and macro forces all converging to support crypto’s role as an important diversification tool within portfolios. \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"> \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">While sentiment now remains very negative, it’s important to keep in mind that every major cycle in crypto's history has included a moment that felt like an ending. The 2018 drawdown took Bitcoin from roughly $20,000 to under $3,500—an 83% decline. In 2022, the market lost approximately two-thirds of its value in under twelve months. Both times, the long-term thesis was declared dead. Both times, the market recovered and went on to reach new highs.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"> \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">The question isn't whether crypto experiences volatility—it does, and always will. A better question is \u003Ca href=\"https://hashdex.com/en-US/insights/a-hidden-return-engine-harnessing-crypto-s-volatility-through-rebalancing\">how to harness this volatility\u003C/a> at a time when long-term structural drivers for this asset class continue to expand.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">\u003Cbr>One good place to start is by looking at crypto’s usage data, that is, how is this technology being applied and utilized in the real world? As noted in the chart below, crypto ecosystem transactions hit all-time highs in Q2. Stablecoin transaction volume in the first six months of 2026 already exceeded everything processed in all of 2025 while tokenized real-world assets have grown over 60% this year alone. The gap between market capitalization and on-chain activity has never been wider. That kind of dislocation between price and fundamentals won’t persist for long. \u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 dir=\"ltr\"> \u003C/h2>\n\u003Ch2 dir=\"ltr\">\u003Cspan style=\"color: rgb(53, 152, 219);\">Quarterly crypto market cap and ecosystem transactions\u003C/span>\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp> \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong> \u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://hdx-website-cms-prod-upload-bucket.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Captura_de_tela_2026_07_01_122529_55f154a130.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1022\" height=\"364\">\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"> \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">\u003Cem>Past performance does not guarantee future results. Transactions include but are not limited to networks such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, other smart contract platforms and layer-2s. Quarterly market cap represents the last value of the quarter, Crypto market capitalization include smart contract platforms, enabling solutions, stablecoins and synthetic assets. Elaborated by Hashdex Asset Management with data from Messari from January 1st, 2020 to June 30, 2026.\u003C/em>\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">On top of crypto’s expanding utility, institutional infrastructure continues to be built into the traditional financial system across banks, brokers, payment providers, and nearly every large financial services firm in the world. ETF adoption has brought participants into the market who didn't exist in previous cycles. Regulatory clarity is improving dramatically and may become more permanent if digital asset market structure legislation (the Clarity Act) is signed into law this summer. \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"> \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">While developments like approval of the Clarity Act or de-escalation between the US and Iran could be near-term price catalysts, what’s more important are these structural foundations—the kind that matter for what the market looks like in five years, not five weeks. And none of that has changed because AI stocks are having a moment.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"> \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">What I like to remind investors when I speak with them about the investment case for crypto is that capital follows attention and narratives. Crypto has benefited from this in the past but right now, attention is elsewhere. AI infrastructure plays, IPO pipelines, macro positioning around rate expectations, are absorbing the flows. But I think this is creating a window of opportunity. Entry points like this one have historically been where the best long-term outcomes originate—not at peaks, and not when everyone agrees the thesis is intact.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"> \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">I genuinely don't know when the rotation back into crypto begins. But I do know that when it comes, it tends to move quickly. Broad market exposure—owning the full landscape of the crypto market, not a concentrated bet on any single asset—is what positions a portfolio to participate without requiring a specific call on which corner of the market leads. This is exactly the moment where the index approach earns its keep. A concentrated position requires one specific asset to outperform, while a broad index requires only that the asset class recovers—which, historically, it does.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"> \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">So where does this leave an advisor today that is thinning about how to get their clients exposure to this asset class? My view remains the same: size the position in a way that will allow you to navigate these cycles, get broad exposure rather than concentrated bets on any single asset or narrative, and don't confuse a temporary rotation with a structural 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