Crypto Bear Market Investments: Four High-Conviction Growth Areas
IOSG founder Jocy Lin said the crypto bear market is creating opportunities in projects with measurable revenue and real users. The investment firm continues to deploy capital, while shifting allocation away from early-stage deals toward OTC transactions, secondary markets and incubation.
Jocy argued that Bitcoin’s four-year cycle has outweighed macro narratives such as artificial intelligence, gold and US equities. Bitcoin has fallen about 29% year to date after its 2025 peak, and IOSG’s internal research suggests a possible bottom between $45,000 and $60,000 by late October 2026. A more bearish scenario places the bottom at $40,000-$55,000 in the first half of 2027.
The speech identified four crypto investment themes: stablecoins and payments, prediction markets, AI infrastructure, and on-chain trading and credit. Circle was highlighted for reserve income, distribution economics and blockchain infrastructure. RedotPay was cited as a crypto payments leader, with more than five million cards issued, about $3 billion in transaction volume and annualised revenue near $150 million.
Polymarket and Kalshi are expanding prediction markets, reporting first-quarter 2026 trading volumes of $26.2 billion and $32.1 billion respectively. In AI, Grass reported about $17 million in 2025 revenue and expects more than $70 million in 2026, while Hyperbolic is building a GPU and inference marketplace. On-chain, Collector Crypt generated up to $15 million in monthly protocol revenue, and Hyperliquid was described as using trading-fee-funded token buybacks to reinforce demand.
The broader thesis is that crypto is becoming internet-native financial infrastructure through stablecoins, tokenised assets, consumer applications and AI agents. Traders may view the revenue focus as constructive for long-term adoption, but Bitcoin’s cycle-based downside scenarios and uncertainty around Ethereum leadership remain significant near-term risks.
Neutral
The article is strategically constructive but not an immediate bullish catalyst. Its main message is that the crypto bear market is separating revenue-generating businesses from speculative projects, with stablecoins, payments, prediction markets and AI infrastructure showing stronger adoption. These themes could support long-term demand for crypto infrastructure and selected tokens.
However, the short-term market outlook remains mixed. The presentation expects Bitcoin to remain within a possible accumulation and bottoming process, with downside scenarios reaching $45,000-$60,000 in late 2026 or $40,000-$55,000 in the first half of 2027. Such forecasts could encourage traders to reduce leverage and wait for confirmation rather than chase rallies. Bitcoin’s reported 29% year-to-date decline also indicates that favourable macro narratives have not been sufficient to reverse selling pressure.
The discussion of stablecoin legislation and bank-issued digital dollars is comparable to earlier regulatory turning points that expanded participation in financial markets. If implementation progresses, it could improve institutional confidence and increase stablecoin circulation. Prediction-market volumes and revenue data from projects such as Grass, Collector Crypt and Hyperliquid likewise provide fundamental support, although they do not automatically translate into broad-based token appreciation.
Ethereum remains a key risk factor. Its settlement role, developer ecosystem and stablecoin dominance are significant strengths, but Layer 2 fee leakage, weaker ETH/BTC performance and governance concerns may limit relative performance. Overall, the news supports selective long-term accumulation but offers no clear short-term market-wide buy signal, making a neutral classification most appropriate.