đWall Street starts buying altcoins
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GM friends.
Hereâs what Iâll cover today:
đWall Street starts buying altcoins
đ Crypto chart of the week
đď¸ The latest DeFi news
đWall Street starts buying altcoins
Price action aside, some very interesting things are happening in crypto right now.
Some of the worldâs largest asset managers started buying DeFi tokens this month:
BlackRock purchased an undisclosed amount of UNI tokens after Uniswap enabled trading BlackRockâs BUIDL tokenized fund on its interface
Apollo Global Management announced it will purchase up to 90 million MORPHO tokens (worth ~$170M) over the next 48 months
Citadel Securities and Ark Invest invested in LayerZeroâs ZRO token
Itâs the first time that several big TradFi institutions added DeFi tokens to their portfolios.
On top of this, a few weeks ago, Jupiter secured a $35M $JUP investment from ParaFi Capital at the spot price.
This was unheard of a few years ago, as the reality is that most VCs have been buying tokens at huge OTC discounts and dumping their holdings right after unlocks began.
But the fact that some institutions/VCs are now willing to buy DeFi tokens at the open market price seems like a very bullish long-term signal.
Why does all of this matter?
The worldâs largest institutions buying altcoins could create significant buying pressure on select altcoins, just like it happened with BTC over the past 2 years.
And on top of that, it legitimizes the industry and may also convince many retail investors who had been looking at altcoins skeptically to start investing.
This, coupled with the recent launch of buyback mechanisms by most major dApps, might be exactly whatâs needed for altcoins to make a big comeback in the next cycle.
I am aware that most people fully lost trust in altcoins, and often for good reason.
Frankly, the tokens of most projects in this space will never hit new ATHs again.
But at the same time, I strongly believe that those with good fundamentals could see a massive rally in the next bull cycle and remind us what a real altseason looks like.
Thanks to institutional interest, BTC went from $16k to $124k this cycle.
For altcoins, the buy pressure needed to pump them is much lower.
What to expect next, and whatâs my plan?
I think what weâve seen so far is only the beginning.
BlackRock, which just bought UNI, is historically the institution that sets the tone. When it does something, the rest of the financial industry often follows.
I expect many institutions to announce altcoin purchases in the next few months.
That said, I believe thereâs no rush to buy altcoins just yet, as until BTC hits the cycle bottom, altcoins are unlikely to do very well even if they see institutional inflows.
Historically, that happens 1 year after the cycle top, which coincides with October.
Given the current macro situation, I wouldnât be surprised if history repeats itself and this BTC cycle bottom is hit around late Q3/early Q4 2026.
March 2026 could be a good month for crypto, based on what happened in the past cycles, but even if we see a rally, I think it wonât last more than a few weeks.
Considering all of this, my current plan is to start getting significant exposure to both altcoins and BTC in late Q3.
Until then, I intend to DCA only into BTC each time it hits a major support level.
What altcoins do I plan to buy? There is still plenty of time to decide until Q3, but this is what I am generally looking for:
A low price to earnings ratio - price to earnings can be calculated as token FDV/annual revenue (if itâs below 15, thatâs great)
A high circulating token supply and low emissions
A buyback program or other mechanisms that drive real value to the token
A team that keeps shipping fast through the bear market
True product-market fit, where the projectâs product is used because it is a genuinely good product, and not only to farm token emissions
I am not gonna lie, there are not many projects that meet this criteria. But I think those are the ones most likely to grab institutional interest.
A few projects on my radar are Fluid, Jupiter, AAVE, Pendle, Hyperliquid, Lighter, EtherFi, and Sky. Yet I will probably share exactly what I plan to buy closer to Q3.
Weâve seen this cycle how institutions validated BTC as an investment. Now theyâre starting to also validate altcoins by putting serious money behind them.
As crypto transitions to an institutional-led era, I believe that major institutions buying altcoins is likely to be a major catalyst for the next bull run.
The bear market is likely not over yet, but I have no doubt a new bull cycle will come.
Make sure youâll be positioned for it.
Together with Vaultedge
Vaultedge: the credit layer for Defiâs Yield
A new DeFi protocol launched its private beta this week with a novel approach to liquidity for yield-generating assets.
I am talking about Vaultedge - a new dApp that lets users collateralize wstETH (Lido), weETH (Ether.fi), or Morpho Gauntlet vault receipts to mint USDVE stablecoin.
Using it, you can borrow against yield-generating collateral at zero interest!
Whatâs more, early users also get Pareto points for using it.
Traditional CDPs like MakerDAO charge 5-8% and leave collateral idle. Vaultedge eliminates borrowing costs while keeping collateral productive.
Users are already building real yield strategies using Vaultedge:
- Yield looping: wstETH/weETH exposure amplified 2-3x at zero interest â earns Pareto Points
- LP provision: USDVE/USDC on Hydrex for oHYDX Emissions + Pareto Points
- Stability pool staking â earns Pareto Points
- Delta-neutral farming: collateral yield + funding rates while staying delta-neutral
Pareto Points are Vaultedgeâs Initiation campaign rewards for early participants. Every core protocol action accumulates them.
Private beta access is limited, expanding through quality-gated referrals.
Check out Vaultedge here!
Chart of the week
The active market cap of RWAs surpassed $15 billion
Crypto meme of the weekđ
The latest developments in DeFi
Ethereum Foundation launched a DeFi coordination team to support DeFi builders
AAVE Labsâs proposal to give 100% of its revenue and IP rights to the DAO in exchange for 51M in funding is live
Pendle unveiled its roadmap, which includes integrating Pendleâs fixed yields into Earn programs on CEXs
Backpack announced it will give 20% of Backpackâs company equity to users who stake their airdrop for 1 year
Liquity's BOLD stablecoin went live on Privacy Pools for self-custodial privacy
Jupiterâs proposal to stop JUP token emissions passed
Fluid proposed creating the Fluid Foundation to become a fully DAO-owned protocol
Near Protocol announced NEAR SuperApp - a consumer app where you can swap, access yield, and go confidential across 35+ networks
Trump increased global tariffs right after the US Supreme Court called his tariffs illegal đ
Canary Capital launched the first-ever Staked SUI ETF
Ondo Finance launched its tokenized stocks on Binance Alpha
US White House said Trump has no intention to pardon SBF
Sonic Labs CEO stepped down after only 5 months
HyperLend will launch its token called HPL today
Flying Tulip launched its token FT and its yield-bearing stablecoin
Huma Financeâs Season 3 airdrop is now available for claim
Thatâs all for this week!
Until next time,
The DeFi Investor
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