When selling pressure began, Bitcoin dropped quickly through those thin areas. Around $75,000, large traders who deal in options had to sell even more as the price fell, which pushed Bitcoin down faster toward the $60,000 range before it found some stability.
At the same time, Fundstrat’s Tom Lee suggested that gold may have attracted a large share of investor money, which could explain why Bitcoin struggled. Austin noted that in the past, Bitcoin has often outperformed gold as a store of value, and he believes that trend could return.
Cardano and the Stablecoin Boost
Austin highlighted Cardano as a key project to watch. The network is preparing to launch USDCx at the end of February. Founder Charles Hoskinson confirmed that users will have full wallet support and direct conversion access through major exchanges.
He described this as an important step for Cardano. The network has fallen behind Ethereum, Tron, Solana, and BNB Chain in stablecoin usage. With clearer stablecoin rules developing globally, better liquidity on Cardano could help bring new capital into its ecosystem.
Zcash and Bittensor
Speaking about comments from Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert at Bitcoin Investor Week, Austin mentioned Zcash and Bittensor as potential high-upside bets.
Zcash fits into the privacy-focused theme, which could gain attention as governments increase financial monitoring. However, Austin personally prefers Bittensor because it combines crypto with artificial intelligence. The project runs a system where developers compete to build useful AI tools, and stronger projects are rewarded. He sees this link between crypto and AI as a major long-term opportunity.
Solana’s Growing Role
Solana was also highlighted as a strong infrastructure project. Developer activity on the network has grown sharply since 2020, with thousands of new developers joining last year. Payment activity is increasing, and some major prediction markets are reportedly planning token launches on Solana.
Although Austin does not expect Solana to deliver extreme returns because of its already large size, he believes it still has solid growth potential compared to traditional financial infrastructure.
$XRP, Chainlink, Polkadot, and Propy
$XRP focuses on fast international payments and liquidity services. Supported by Ripple’s enterprise efforts, it remains one of the most widely discussed utility tokens. While it is unlikely to disappear, very large returns would depend on broader global adoption.
Chainlink continues to be viewed as an important infrastructure project in the crypto space. Austin also still holds Polkadot but with more modest expectations.
Propy stands out as a higher-risk opportunity. The project has raised over $100 million, completed a $14 million commercial real estate deal using USDT, and is expanding escrow services across several U.S. states. Austin believes Propy could modernize real estate transactions by turning them into software-based processes.
He concluded by reminding viewers that Bitcoin and Ethereum remain his core holdings, while these altcoins represent higher-risk investments that could deliver strong returns if their long-term visions succeed.
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