Opinion: Crypto Prices Remain in "Winter," But Institutional Adoption Enters "Summer"

Odaily News: STS Digital CEO Maxime Seiler stated that the current crypto market is experiencing a phase of divergence between price performance and institutional adoption trends. While token prices remain depressed, institutional deployment of blockchain technology continues to accelerate.Speaking at the 2026 Wyoming Blockchain Symposium, Maxime Seiler remarked, "From a price perspective, we are still in a crypto winter, but from an institutional development standpoint, we have entered an institutional summer." He pointed out that traditional financial institutions are currently more focused on adopting the underlying blockchain technology rather than directly allocating significant capital to crypto assets, which is why the growth in technology adoption has not yet been fully reflected in token prices.Data shows that Bitcoin is currently hovering above $77,000, still approximately 38% below its historical high of $126,000; Ethereum is trading around $2,400, down about 52% from its all-time high; and Solana is around $90.93, down approximately 69% from its peak.Maxime Seiler also noted that the convergence of Bitcoin futures basis reflects the maturing of the crypto market. During the 2021 cycle, the annualized futures basis once reached 20%-30%, but it has now gradually approached the risk-free rate level with significantly reduced volatility. He believes this is mainly due to the continuous improvement of channels for dollars to flow in and out of the crypto market, which has reduced market volatility. (The Block)