Current Futures & FX Positioning (All positions are long except for Japanese Yen (short)). The Bitcoin futures position has been moved into the $IBIT Bitcoin Ishares ETF and accounts for approximately 17% notional exposure.
YTD PERFORMANCE UPDATE
- Macro Ops Futures, Commodities and Currencies +27.78% YTD
- S&P 500 +6.43%% YTD
- Outperformance +21.35%
The Crypto Bull Awakens: From Bitcoin Solo Act to Altcoin Ensemble
Whether you’re a crypto maximalist who’s been HODLing since the last cycle, a macro trader dipping in for convexity, or a family office allocating to digital assets as a hedge against fiat debasement, you’ve probably noticed the shift.
For the better part of the last six months, really, since the post-election grind started in earnest, Bitcoin has been the lone ranger in this market. It carried the torch while everything else languished in the shadows: Ethereum chopping sideways, altcoins bleeding out in slow motion, and the broader ecosystem feeling like a ghost town after the 2022 wreckage.
But markets don’t stay static.
Regimes change, narratives evolve, and capital flows where the momentum builds. We’re seeing that now. Bitcoin’s still leading the charge, sure, pushing toward all-time highs with that relentless grind we’ve come to expect in bull quiet phases.
Bitcoin is the leader, if Bitcoin doesn’t lead higher, nothing in crypto (or even in growth markets generally) will go higher.
The most explosive and rewarding period for Bitcoin historically is just about to take off. This is a comparison of the 2017, 2021 and current Bitcoin bull markets (current is the white line chart at the bottom).
But the participation is broadening.
Ethereum’s finally waking up, altcoins are starting to rotate in, and the whole crypto space is showing signs of a classic bull market expansion. This isn’t just hype; it’s regime confirmation, and if you’re not positioned systematically, you might be leaving alpha on the table.
The edge here isn’t in chasing the next meme coin or timing the ETF flows perfectly. It’s in understanding the regimes and layering a system that captures the move without the emotional whiplash.
The Solo Phase: Bitcoin’s Grind and Why It Mattered
Go back to January 2025. Coming off the holiday lull, Bitcoin started its ascent, slow at first, then accelerating as institutional inflows ramped up. Spot ETFs were sucking in billions, halvings reduced supply, and macro tailwinds like cooling inflation and rate cut expectations gave it fuel.
But Ethereum? It was stuck in neutral, weighed down by regulatory overhang, scaling debates, and a lack of fresh catalysts. Altcoins fared even worse: Solana, Cardano, even the DeFi darlings, most were down 20-50% from their cycle highs, trapped in a mean-reverting chop that punished anyone trying to pick bottoms.
The worst hit were the meme coins, not just the garbage fake ones, even the large cap meme coins were down over -80% from the post-election highs.
This was classic “Bitcoin dominance” territory.
Dominance hit 55-60% for months, a regime where BTC acts as the safe haven within crypto, think of it as the S&P 500 of the digital world during vol-suppressed bulls. Our systems nailed this phase. The Slow Trend strategy (3-12 months horizon) went long BTC early, riding the wave with convexity as it confirmed the uptrend.
No guessing, no FOMO buys, just regime signals based on price action.
Altcoins? Our models went flat mid December 2024 and stayed flat.
The truth is, most traders underperform in these phases because they fight the tape. They see Bitcoin ripping and pile into alts too early, expecting rotation that doesn’t come.
Or they sit out entirely, waiting for a crash that never materializes. Remember, the market spends most of its time in bull quiet, not crashing, not euphoric, just grinding higher. Bitcoin’s solo act was that grind personified, and it rewarded patience over prediction.
The Shift: Ethereum Joins the Party, Alts Rotate In
Fast forward to now, mid-July 2025. The regime’s evolving, and it’s textbook.
Ethereum’s broken out, up 25% in the last month alone, fueled by the long-awaited ETF approvals, Layer 2 scaling upgrades, and a surge in on-chain activity. Staking yields are juicy again, DeFi TVL is climbing, and the narrative’s shifting from “ETH as gas token” to “ETH as the settlement layer for everything.”
I personally believe the Circle IPO was the moment that all of Wall Street suddenly realized what stable coins were and how important ETH is to that whole ecosystem. When they realized how much money Tether and Circle make it was an a-ha moment.
Circle IPO’ed at $69 (nice) and shot up to $300, Wall Street is aware now.
But it’s not just ETH. Altcoins are participating en masse: Solana’s pumping on mobile adoption and meme coin mania, Polkadot’s seeing parachain revivals, and even older names like Ripple are catching bids amid legal wins.
This should start the expansion phase of a bull market, where capital flows from the blue chips to the mid-caps and beyond, creating that exponential feel.
Why now? A few catalysts align:
- Macro backdrop: Fed’s on pause, but rate cuts are priced in for Q4. Dollar weakness is giving risk assets breathing room.
- On-chain flows: Institutional wallets are diversifying, retail’s FOMOing back in via apps like Robinhood and Coinbase.
- Sentiment flip: Google Trends for “Ethereum ETF” are spiking, and X (formerly Twitter) chatter’s shifted from bearish capitulation to bullish greed.
Our systems picked this up weeks ago.
This broadening isn’t random; it’s how bulls mature. Early phases reward the leaders (Bitcoin). Mid-phases bring in the laggards (ETH and alts).
Late phases? That’s when euphoria hits, but we’re not there yet, regimes are neutral to bull quiet, with no overextension signals flashing red.
If you’re like most macro pros I know, you crush it in crypto crashes, spotting the tops, hedging with puts, or going short during the 2022 bloodbath.
But in bull markets like this, the way you underperform is by being trigger-shy and waiting for the inflection point that never comes… or worse, you chase alts prematurely and get rekt on the chop.
The market spends 80% of its time rising, not falling. Crypto’s no different; vol’s higher, but the regimes are the same. You don’t need a new crystal ball or another TA indicator. You need a system: one that runs parallel to your discretionary gut, capturing the grind without the bias.
This setup’s delivered in real time. From the August 2024 “crash” bottom, we built longs in BTC via Slow Trend. Flat during the winter chop. Then reloaded in April’s capitulation, long BTC, ETH, and alts. We’re still in; no exit signals have been given yet, but the system is ready if dominance reverses or funding rates invert.
The Edge: Full-Cycle Crypto Exposure
In bull expansions, it compounds. In chops, it clips. In panics, it protects with negative correlation and convex hedges.
The systems don’t get caught in headlines, like the recent regulatory noise or ETF delay FUD. They just execute.
We’ve been long the bull, positioned for rotation, and patient until signals change since October 2023.
If you’re ready to plug the hole in your crypto game, dive deeper with the Crypto Momentum System, our battle-tested framework that’s turned a basic Coinbase account into 17x gains over the past year, without leverage or exotic exchanges. Built from over a decade of crypto trading (including running a hedge fund that returned capital plus profits in under a year), this system focuses on swing trades that catch massive moves, like the 5x rally in $AIOZ from $0.20 to over $1.00 in just a month.
What’s in it for you?
A comprehensive watchlist and momentum filter to spot what’s hot, TradingView templates and code for instant setup, step-by-step videos and guides (even if you’re new to this), access to our private Slack group for real-time community insights, and regular email/video updates to stay ahead without staring at screens 24/7. It’s designed for anyone who wants to trade crypto, from self-directed traders to regulated pros, letting you rotate into strength, avoid the noise, and compound in bulls like this one.
Build your edge without the guesswork, head to macro–ops.com/crypto-momentum-system-sales now and start capturing the crypto momentum that’s unfolding right in front of us.
All sectors are lined up and ready to fire, we are ready. This isn’t the last big blow off at the end, the most exciting part is just about to begin.
