Rostislav Totev on the Crypto Market: What We Discussed on Bloomberg and What We Didn't Have Time to Cover on Air
Institutional capital is playing an increasingly significant role in shaping the direction of the crypto market, with interest concentrating around Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana. This was one of the key points made by Rostislav Totev, Founder of Altcoins.bg, during his appearance on Bloomberg TV Bulgaria’s “In Development” programme on 29 September. According to him, the current cycle differs from previous ones: institutions are entering the market before the broader wave of retail investors, without the widespread euphoria and strong demand for speculative tokens seen in earlier cycles.
During the conversation, Rostislav discussed Bitcoin’s role as digital capital and Ethereum and Solana as infrastructure connecting traditional finance with digital assets. Other key topics included flows into spot Bitcoin ETFs, the outlook for stablecoins and tokenisation, as well as the impact of macroeconomic conditions and US regulation. In his view, it is still too early to speak of a broad-based “altseason”, while interest in smaller tokens is likely to become more selective.
Read the article and watch the full interview on Bloomberg TV Bulgaria.
And what we did not have time to discuss on air is exclusively for Altcoins.bg clients and readers.
The conversation about the market naturally leads to a bigger question: what role will crypto play in the way money moves and is used? Here is how Rostislav sees the next stage.
The next major battle is over the infrastructure of money
“The next major stage in the development of the sector will probably not be about which token delivers the biggest gains. The more interesting question is what infrastructure the money itself will move on.
On one side, we have regulated stablecoins, while on the other, we are already seeing banks experiment with tokenised deposits. At some point, the difference may become almost invisible to the end user. They will simply expect their money to move 24/7, almost instantly and globally.
That is when the real competition will be between infrastructures: who provides the liquidity, settlement, custody and regulatory compliance. In my view, this is where a significant part of the value will be created over the next decade.”
The crypto market is changing, and so are the questions we ask. Beyond “Which asset will increase in value?”, it is becoming increasingly important to ask how we will use digital money, who we will entrust it to and what stands behind the services we rely on every day. This is exactly the future we discussed at Blockchain Week Bulgaria 2026. We will soon share the full video of our presentation so we can continue the conversation.
“In previous cycles, price led the industry. In this cycle, infrastructure has started to lead price.”
Rostislav Totev, Founder of Altcoins.bg
Risk goes beyond price
The cyberattack against Bitget on 24 September is a reminder that the risks associated with crypto go beyond a decline in the price of the assets we hold. It also matters who holds our assets, how they are stored, who bears responsibility and what safeguards are in place. This does not mean that everyone should withdraw their crypto-assets from exchanges and move them to a self-custody wallet. When assets are held through a platform, we entrust them to a company and rely on its experience, systems and security procedures. With a self-custody wallet, control over the keys and responsibility for protecting them rest entirely with us, including in cases of lost access, fraud or human error. Both approaches involve different types of risk and may be suitable for different users. What matters is understanding the difference and choosing according to your own knowledge, experience and needs.
