'Worst Crypto Winter I've Seen'—But Bitcoin, Ethereum Can Still Win, StarkWare Co-Founder Says

StarkWare co-founder and Zcash creator Eli Ben-Sasson said the crypto market is still in a deep identity crisis even after Bitcoin and Ethereum rebounded from a severe downturn. He described the current environment as the worst crypto winter he has seen since 2013, noting that BTC and ETH had fallen more than 16% over the past month amid geopolitical uncertainty and capital moving into AI-related stocks. Ben-Sasson argued the recent recovery has been driven more by macro factors than by crypto-native catalysts, and that the sector needs real utility, privacy, and applications blockchain can deliver better than traditional finance. He believes the next cycle will come from use cases around financial freedom, on-chain transactions, and digital privacy, with growing interest in privacy-focused assets like Zcash. The article’s market takeaway is that despite institutional adoption and ETF support, sentiment remains cautious, and the durable bullish case depends on meaningful real-world blockchain adoption rather than narrative-driven speculation.