Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Invest, outlined three key conditions that must be met for cryptocurrency markets to extend their early 2026 rally and transition from a bounce into a sustained uptrend.

What Happened: Crypto markets have started 2026 strong, with Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) both up roughly 7% year-to-date, while higher-beta altcoins have significantly outperformed.

Hougan said the rally can continue if three major boxes are checked:

No major market blowups

The biggest near-term risk has been another forced liquidation event similar to the Oct. 10, 2025 deleveraging that erased nearly $19 billion.

Hougan noted that this risk has largely…

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