A detailed macro analysis is drawing a seven-point structural parallel between today's crypto market and 1996 — the year before the late-1990s internet boom went parabolic. The core argument: retail exhaustion, sideways price action, and low participation are not signs of a dead market but classic early-cycle signatures that preceded five years of compounding gains in equities and tech.
The thesis rests on converging signals. The Fed's tightening cycle has ended and liquidity is stabilizing, mirroring post-1994 conditions. Corporate capex is reaccelerating into AI, chips, and robotics — driving a productivity expansion the analyst compares directly to the mid-1990s internet surge. Earnings revisions are quietly trending upward while sentiment stays bearish, and MACD patterns on the S&P 500 today closely mirror those of 1996 — a moment that looked like a potential top but instead…