Bitwise Says This Altcoin Could 30x - And That's Just the Base Case

Host John Gillen speaks with Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan and head of research Ryan Rasmussen about Bitcoin’s pullback to roughly $82,000. They view the decline as normal early-bull-market consolidation, while acknowledging near-term risks from rates, macro uncertainty and the midterms.

The discussion examines Bitwise’s research on Near Protocol and its base-case price target of $155 by 2030. Hougan and Rasmussen argue that Near could capture value from AI agents, tokenized finance and cross-chain transactions, but stress that the forecast depends on major adoption and execution assumptions.

They also share findings from conversations with 15 large institutional investors, including that none sold during a 50% crypto drawdown and many added to their positions. The conversation closes with the growth potential for perpetual futures platforms such as Hyperliquid and Lighter, plus Bitwise’s expectation that asset management will increasingly move on-chain through vaults and automated token portfolios.