CoinDesk
Researcher Ben Cowen, founder of Into the Cryptoverse, says the crypto market is in the middle of a long-overdue purge of speculative altcoins — and that the pain is the price of admission for a sustainable Bitcoin bull market. "For the global cryptocurrency market to achieve a genuine, sustainable bull run, a painful but necessary purge of thousands of speculative 'junk coins' must occur first," Cowen told CoinDesk, arguing the process has been underway since 2021 and still has further to run.
Why it matters
The scale of the decay is staggering: GeckoTerminal has tracked more than 25 million token deployments, with over 11.6 million failing in 2025 alone as the memecoin sector collapsed. CoinShares senior researcher Luke Nolan pointed to a memecoin market-cap drop from roughly $150 billion in December 2024 to under $50 billion, calling the "ninety-five percent of tokens being worthless" read fair. Arthur Hayes told Consensus Miami 2026 that "99% of altcoins could eventually go to zero." The thesis echoes older warnings from Charles Hoskinson, Vitalik Buterin and Brad Garlinghouse that 90–99% of crypto projects would fail.
Bitcoin dominance is the cleanest signal: from over 99% in 2013 it fell to roughly 33% in 2018, then began a multi-year climb back, reclaiming 60% in late April. Cowen argues that with stablecoins excluded, true dominance is already above 67% — and Ark Invest has suggested it could approach 70% by 2030. "Capital is not rotating into higher-risk assets, but instead consolidating into Bitcoin or moving to the sidelines," Cowen wrote in his April 2026 Crypto Risk Memo.
Market impact
Despite Bitcoin hovering above $81,000 — its first time at that level since late January — Cowen is cautious, calling BTC a bear market that will "likely drift lower" and doubting a 2026 all-time high. Peter Brandt sees $250,000 only after a prolonged bottoming into September or October, and Michael Terpin said Bitcoin needs to revisit roughly $57,000 in the next four to five months.
Frequently asked questions
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Who is Ben Cowen and what is his purge thesis?
Cowen is the founder of Into the Cryptoverse. He argues that a sustained purge of speculative altcoins and memecoins is the prerequisite for a real Bitcoin bull market, and that the cleansing has been underway since 2021.
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What data shows the altcoin purge is already happening?
GeckoTerminal has tracked 25M+ token deployments with 11.6M failing in 2025 alone, memecoin market cap has fallen from roughly $150B in December 2024 to under $50B, and Bitcoin dominance has reclaimed 60% as capital consolidates.
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How high could Bitcoin dominance realistically go?
Cowen estimates true dominance is already above 67% when stablecoins are excluded. Ark Invest has suggested it could approach 70% by 2030, up from lows near 33% in 2018.
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Why is the $88,880 level so important for Bitcoin?
CryptoQuant analysts say Bitcoin must flip $88,880 into confirmed support to validate a bottom. If it fails, they view a pullback into the $58,000–$62,000 zone as the most probable outcome.
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Will Bitcoin hit a new all-time high in 2026?
Cowen doubts it, calling 2026 a 'reset year with time-based capitulation.' Peter Brandt and Michael Terpin share the cautious view, with Brandt targeting $250K only by 2029 and Terpin expecting a revisit toward $57K first.
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