[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee] Charles Hoskinson (찰스 호스킨슨) described the cryptocurrency market downturn as temporary and argued that another bull market will come.

On Aug. 19 local time, blockchain media outlet The Crypto Basic reported that Hoskinson said in a speech at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium (WBS) that the bear market will eventually end and a market upswing will follow.

He said the next bull market will not be built on speculative funds alone as in the past. To attract billions of new investors and $10 trillion in capital, the industry must embrace a new generation and a new narrative. He stressed that developers should deliver products that are easier and safer, rather than requiring ordinary users to understand the complexity of blockchain infrastructure.

The remarks align with the view that cryptocurrency should expand from being seen as a finance-asset-centric concept to infrastructure that solves real problems. Hoskinson made clear that real-world use will be the key driver of the next market rise.

The optimism came as the Cardano ecosystem was going through a sluggish period. ADA fell as low as about $0.1753 at one point this week, down 47.3 percent from the start of the year, and briefly slipped out of the top 10 by market capitalisation. In the Cardano ecosystem, project shutdowns and governance conflicts continued alongside the market slump.

DeFi metrics also contracted. Cardano's total value locked fell 85 percent to $65 million from its peak of $437 million. The bear market hit not only prices but broader ecosystem activity.

Even so, Hoskinson maintained an optimistic view on Cardano's medium- to long-term outlook. He said ADA would return to the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation by the end of this year, and could see rocket-like gains in 2027.

He cited DeFi strengthening efforts as the basis for a Cardano rebound. Through Bitcoin DeFi and AlphaGrowth's PRIME initiative, it plans to increase capital and use cases across the ecosystem. It also plans to boost throughput and scalability by deploying the Leios and Hydra upgrades. The idea is to pursue network performance improvements and a DeFi recovery together.

Cardano is also preparing to launch the RealFi mainnet by the end of this year. RealFi aims to connect blockchain-based capital to real-world credit and microfinance markets. If the service takes root, expectations are emerging that it could draw more users into the Cardano ecosystem by linking people with low access to financial services to new sources of capital.

Ultimately, Hoskinson's message places more weight on the conditions for a rebound than on the rebound itself. Whether the industry can build services and financial infrastructure with real-world utility is expected to be the watershed for the next bull market.