Remember when everyone was hyped about the biggest bull run ever? Feels like ages ago.

Thing is, the whole game changed. Used to be retail traders calling the shots, making crypto actually fun and unpredictable. Now? Institutions have basically taken over. They came in with deep pockets and different playbooks, and suddenly the dynamics flipped.

It's not necessarily bad, but it's different. When big money enters, retail gets squeezed out or forced to play by their rules. The market becomes more structured, less organic. You see it in how price action behaves, how quickly moves get smoothed out.

So maybe the real lesson isn't about chasing the next massive bull run. Maybe it's about understanding that institutional adoption fundamentally changes what crypto markets look like. Boring can be profitable, but it's definitely not the same anymore.