Crypto markets are unlikely to return to the extreme boom-and-bust cycles that defined earlier eras, according to Solstice CEO Ben Nadareski, who said deeper liquidity is making digital assets more stable.
Speaking on Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction show, Nadareski said liquidity across major crypto trading pairs has increased significantly, including during bear markets. In his view, that has reduced the conditions that once produced the sharp price swings seen in prior cycles.
He also said crypto is increasingly becoming a market for institutional capital and household wealth rather than speculative trading alone.
「We don’t want to go through 2017. We don’t want to go through 2021. We don’t want to go through these massive fluctuations.」
Cointelegraph said the comments come as institutional participation and deeper trading markets reshape crypto market structure, a shift that could temper the volatility that marked earlier cycles.
Deeper markets may be easing volatility
Bitcoin market data cited in the report supports Nadareski’s argument that deeper markets have coincided with lower volatility.
A December 2025 report from blockchain analytics firm Glassnode and asset manager Fasanara Digital found that Bitcoin’s one-year realized volatility had fallen from 84.4% to 43%. The firms said growing market depth and institutional participation were part of the reason.
The same report said daily Bitcoin spot volumes rose to between $8 billion and $22 billion, up from $4 billion to $13 billion during the previous market cycle.
Other industry participants have made similar arguments about the role of institutional capital in changing crypto cycles.
In March, SkyBridge Capital managing partner Anthony Scaramucci said Bitcoin’s four-year cycle had been “muted” by institutional investors and spot Bitcoin ETF inflows, though he added that the traditional cycle had not disappeared entirely.
Nadareski sees Solana stablecoins moving toward $100 billion
Nadareski, whose company operates in the Solana ecosystem, also pointed to potential growth in the network’s stablecoin market.
He said the value of stablecoins on Solana could rise above $50 billion and approach $100 billion over the next five years, citing growing adoption among fintech companies as well as Solana’s transaction speed and low fees.
According to DefiLlama, Solana currently has about $16 billion in stablecoin market capitalization.
Stablecoins are also becoming a larger source of liquidity across crypto markets. CEX.IO data showed they accounted for 75% of total crypto trading volume in the first quarter of 2026, the highest share on record, while transaction volume surpassed $28 trillion.