A crypto analyst says inaccurate narratives still circulate in the cryptocurrency market, mainly based on skewed information rather than onchain data to back it up.

“Beware of misinformation. Despite the data, misleading narratives persist,” CryptoQuant contributor “onchained,” said in a March 22 market report.

“Such claims often lack onchain validation and are driven by sensationalist market sentiment rather than objective analysis,” the analyst said, adding:

“Trust data, not noise, verify sources and cross-check onchain metrics.”

Onchained pointed to the recent movements of Bitcoin (BTC) long-term holders (LTH) — those holding for over 155 days — as an example of false narratives clashing with real data.

The analyst pointed out that while some narratives claim Bitcoin long-term holders are “capitulating,” the data shows they’re remaining consistent. “The data leaves no room for speculation,” Onchained said.

The Inactive Supply Shift Index (ISSI) — which measures the degree to which long-dormant Bitcoin supply is shifting — “shows no meaningful LTH selling pressure, reinforcing a narrative of structural demand outpacing supply,” Onchained said.

Narratives are always being challenged

Crypto analytics platform Glassnode recently made a similar observation based on data, saying, “Long-Term Holder activity remains largely subdued, with a notable decline in their sell-side pressure.”

Crypto market narratives are constantly changing and being challenged.

One long-standing crypto narrative under debate is the relevance of the 4-year cycle theory, which suggests that Bitcoin’s price follows a predictable pattern tied to its halving event every four years.

Source: Tomas Greif

MN Trading Capital founder Michael van de Poppe said in a March 22 X post, “I assume that we can erase the entire 4-year cycle theory and that we’re in a longer cycle for Altcoins.” 

Related: Crypto markets will be pressured by trade wars until April: Analyst

Echoing a similar sentiment, Bitwise Invest chief investment officer Matt Hougan recently said that “the traditional four-year cycle is over in crypto” due to the recent change in the US government’s stance.

“Crypto has moved in four-year cycles since its earliest days. But the change in DC introduces a new wave that will play out over a decade,” Hougan said.

Alongside this, some analysts are even debating whether the entire Bitcoin bull market is over.

CryptoQuant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju said in a March 17 X post, “Bitcoin bull cycle is over, expecting 6-12 months of bearish or sideways price action.”

Ju said all Bitcoin onchain metrics indicate a bear market. “With fresh liquidity drying up, new whales are selling Bitcoin at lower prices,” Ju said. 

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Cryptocurrency wallet providers are getting more sophisticated, but so are bad actors — which means the battle between security and threats is at a deadlock, says a hardware wallet firm executive.

“It will always be a cat and mouse game,” Ledger chief experience officer Ian Rogers told Cointelegraph when describing the constant race between crypto wallet firms adding new security features and hackers finding more advanced ways to access victims’ wallets.

Rogers said, unfortunately, the most straightforward scams work best because scammers rely on people making simple mistakes.

“People give their 24-word phrases to people every day, so as long as that happens, then they are going to go for the low-cost tax,” he said, adding:

“Anyone who asks for your 24 words is a criminal.”

Rogers highlighted a common crypto scam where victims get tricked by replies under “any post on Twitter about crypto,” with messages like “DM me, and I’ll help you.”

“You know that scammers are always asking you for your 24 words,” Rogers said. CertiK chief business officer Jason Jiang recently told Cointelegraph that being aware of phishing attacks on social media can drastically increase a user’s crypto security.

Sometimes, scammers hijack the accounts of well-known industry figures to post malicious links, making it even harder for users to spot the scam.

In September 2023, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s account was compromised, leading to a fake NFT giveaway that tricked followers into clicking — only to drain over $691,000 from their wallets.

Source: CertiK

Rogers emphasized that this will always be the case, just as bad actors aren’t limited to crypto — scams like fake emails from the “Nigerian president” have been around for years.

“The cost of the attack is always commensurate with the size of the prize, right?” Rogers said. In 2024, crypto hacks jumped 15% from 2023, with over $3 billion stolen.

Related: Hacker steals $8.4M from RWA restaking protocol Zoth

Meanwhile, pig butchering scams have emerged as one of the most pervasive threats to crypto investors, with losses on the Ethereum network costing the industry $5.5 billion across 200,000 identified cases in 2024.

Pig butchering is a type of phishing scheme that involves prolonged and complex manipulation tactics to trick investors into willingly sending their assets to fraudulent crypto addresses.

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Gold-backed stablecoins will outcompete US dollar-pegged alternatives worldwide due to gold’s inflation-hedging properties and minimum volatility, according to Bitcoin (BTC) maximalist Max Keiser.

Keiser argued that gold is more trusted than the US dollar globally, and said governments of foreign nations with an adversarial relationship to the United States would not accept dollar-pegged stablecoins. The BTC maximalist added:

“Russia, China, and Iran are not going to accept a US dollar stablecoin. I predict they will counter the USD stablecoin with a Gold one. China and Russia have a combined 50,000 tonnes of Gold — more than what is reported.”

The potential for gold-backed stablecoins to outcompete dollar-pegged tokens in international markets would upend plans to extend US dollar dominance through stablecoins proposed by US lawmakers.

Source: Max Keiser

Related: Gov’t can realize gains on gold certificates to buy Bitcoin: Bo Hines

Gold-backed stablecoins fulfill the original promise of USD?

Stablecoin issuer Tether launched a gold-backed stablecoin called Alloy (aUSD₮), backed by Tether’s XAU₮ — a token that provides a paper claim to physical gold — in June 2024.

According to PointsVille founder and former VanEck executive Gabor Gurbacs, “Tether Gold is what the dollar used to be before 1971.”

“XAU₮ is up 15.7% year-to-date, while the broad crypto market is in the red. Foundations and businesses should hedge their holdings with XAU₮,” the executive wrote in a March 19 X post.

XAUT is now at all-time highs following a historic rally in the gold market. Source: Gabor Gurbacs

US policymakers have a different idea

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the Trump administration would focus on using dollar-pegged stablecoins to protect the dollar’s reserve currency status and ensure US dollar hegemony in global financial markets.

Speaking at the March 7 White House Crypto Summit, Bessent indicated that this stablecoin regime would be a top priority for the administration.

Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller also voiced similar comments and expressed support for using stablecoins to prop up the US dollar before Bessent made the remarks at the summit.

US lawmakers have also introduced several stablecoin bills to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for tokenized fiat assets, including the Stable Act of 2025 and the GENIUS stablecoin bill.

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