Der Hot-Money-Zyklus im Überblick: Von Krypto über Gold bis zu Halbleitern

Markets move in cycles. That's one of the few statements about price behavior that's difficult to dispute. But the speed and shape of the current rotation through major asset classes is unusual enough to warrant a closer look. Market analyst James Van Straten outlines a notable sequence: Bitcoin, which climbed from around fifteen thousand dollars to over one hundred twenty-six thousand dollars between late 2022 and late 2025; gold, which followed with a delay but rose in parallel from two thousand to more than five thousand dollars per ounce by early 2026; and finally, capital shifting heavily toward AI infrastructure and memory chip stocks.

The Speed of the Current Rotation

The numbers behind this latest phase are extreme. Memory chip maker Micron has gone from a valuation of seventy billion dollars about a year ago to a market capitalization of over one trillion dollars. NVIDIA has hit new highs of nearly two hundred twenty-five dollars per share. These aren't gradual re-ratings — they're vertical moves, the kind that historically mark the late stage of a thematic mania, even when the underlying fundamentals are real.

What makes the current cycle particularly notable is its time compression. In previous decades, rotation between major themes — commodities, internet stocks, real estate, emerging markets — typically played out over years. The rotation from crypto through gold and AI to memory chips has unfolded within roughly thirty months. Faster information flows, larger pools of mobile capital, and the rise of platforms like Ross Vermoheim, which let retail investors switch between asset classes within seconds, have all contributed to this compression. The result is a market that produces narrative-driven peaks more frequently and unwinds them just as sharply.

What Comes After Memory Chips

Van Straten suggests that the next phase of speculative capital could shift toward a wave of mega IPOs, with SpaceX, OpenAI, and other private-market giants potentially positioned for record-setting public listings. Should this scenario play out, capital currently chasing memory chip volatility could be redirected into newly listed, AI-adjacent stocks — which could put short-term pressure on both crypto and chip valuations.

Reading Late-Cycle Signals Correctly

For active investors and Ross Vermoheim users in Schweiz and other markets, the practical question isn't which theme will lead next, but how to recognize the typical life cycle of a single rotation. A few patterns tend to appear in late-cycle moves: dispersion narrows as a handful of leading stocks dominate capital flows, valuation multiples drift well above their long-term averages, and retail participation surges in instruments offering concentrated exposure. When two or three of these signals appear together, the rotation is usually closer to its end than its beginning.

The current relative weakness in the crypto market should be viewed in this context. Bitcoin trading below seventy-three thousand dollars in late May 2026 doesn't necessarily signal a structural breakdown. It can just as easily be read as a normal consolidation phase within a broader cycle, as attention and capital shift toward other themes. Historically, the same assets that fall out of favor during a rotation often return in later cycles — frequently with stronger fundamentals than they had during the previous run.

Discipline Beats Chasing

The lesson for traders is to resist the impulse to abandon a thesis simply because it's currently out of favor. Building a position across multiple cycles — whether in digital assets, stocks, commodities, or alternative instruments accessible through Ross Vermoheim — tends to be more profitable than chasing the latest trend after the move has already matured. Discipline, position-size management, and a long time horizon remain a trader's key edge, regardless of which theme is dominating the headlines.