Benson Sun: This round of Bitcoin may show a slow bull trend, gradually reaching new highs

Cryptocurrency KOL and former FTX community partner Benson Sun stated that he expects the current Bitcoin market to show a gradual new high slow bull trend, rather than forming a clear top after a rapid short-term rise like in 2013 and 2017. Before the true cycle top arrives, the market may experience multiple local top signals. He believes that after 2021, the main buyers of BTC have gradually shifted from retail investors to institutions such as publicly listed companies, spot ETFs, and corporate treasuries.

Since institutions mainly buy spot, some funds will also use Delta Neutral strategies for arbitrage, and traditional indicators such as funding rates and MVRV Z-Score may not rise to extreme levels again at the cycle top. Recently, the cycle top is more likely to manifest as institutional funds losing momentum rather than retail sentiment becoming overly heated. The Institutional Liquidity Index (ILI) mainly references overall dollar liquidity, the mNAV of Strategy, and the net flow of Bitcoin ETFs to determine whether institutional funds follow up when BTC reaches new highs. When BTC sets a new rolling 30-day high while ILI does not rise simultaneously, it constitutes a yellow divergence; when BTC breaks historical highs while ILI diverges and is below 50, it constitutes a red divergence.

Benson Sun indicated that he would use the frequency of yellow divergences as a reference for judging the cycle process: each occurrence would lead to a proper reduction in altcoin positions and leverage; as the market enters the later stages, he would gradually increase the proportion of BTC and ultimately retain only spot. If a red divergence occurs, he would stop participating further.