One metric shows crypto is now in a bear market: Carl ‘The Moon’

Crypto has already entered a bear market, claims influencer and entrepreneur Carl “The Moon” Runefelt.

He bases the assessment on the average view count on crypto YouTube videos, which has been noticeably lower recently.

“In a bull market, like back in 2021, the views on my channel and other YouTube channels were going into the stratosphere,” Runefelt tells Magazine, casually patting his cat on the couch in his Dubai apartment.

“I got back then, probably like 100,000 to 200,000 views per video,” the Swedish-born, Dubai-based 31-year-old says. 

But Runefelt admits he now struggles to attract more than 15,000 to 20,000 views per video as Bitcoin chops sideways around $90,000 and crypto market sentiment continues to deteriorate.

“There’s no hype in the market. It’s really slowing down, and most of it is because altcoins are in a downtrend,” Runefelt says, adding that market watchers should keep an eye out for YouTube views spiking, as it means a “so-called altcoin season,” signaling that retail investors have arrived.

It’s one of several indicators many in the industry typically watch to judge whether retail investors have returned, alongside metrics like Google Trends data for the search term “crypto.”

Carl Moon’s content thrives in a bull market

Runefelt’s content thrives in a bull market environment, and he’s no stranger to flaunting crypto wealth, from private jets to flashy sports cars.

But life wasn’t always like that for Runefelt. He says that lifestyle only came after going all-in on crypto content. Just over seven years ago, in November 2018, he had just finished up a job at a grocery store in Switzerland. He’d already been putting out videos for almost a year, with his first-ever video on crypto in December 2017.

Since then, he has churned out over 1,500 videos across multiple channels, racking up over 82 million views on his personal channel alone.

He also co-hosts a daily show with 18-year-old crypto influencer Crypto Kid, called The Moon Show, which has 657,000 subscribers. The momentum on YouTube has translated to X, where Runefelt has accumulated 1.5 million followers.

While hard work was involved, he claims it didn’t take long to make his first million dollars. 

“Maybe one and a half years, I would say, one and a half…maximum two years,” he says. 

“Then it just went exponential in the crypto bull market,” he adds.

Almost seems too good to be true, just off YouTube views. So Magazine had to ask, how?

He explains that crypto content creators have more ways to make money than most people realize. Affiliate links to crypto exchanges are a big one. If you sign up through a creator’s link, they often get a small cut of every trade you make on that account, sometimes for life. 

On top of that, there are brand deals, sponsored mentions from major crypto companies, and of course, the money YouTube pays them directly.

Is it too late for other aspiring creators to jump into crypto?

But, let’s be honest, you don’t want to know about other people making a million bucks; you want to know how you can do it too.

So Magazine asked Runefelt whether it’s already too late to follow the same content-creation playbook and make a million dollars. He says it’s not.

According to Runefelt, the crypto industry has plenty of under-explored subsectors, and the opportunity is still wide open. He says if you genuinely love crypto and jump in, once your videos start pulling around 5,000 views daily, making your first million can happen surprisingly quickly.

And now is the perfect time to start, because Runefelt believes you will come across as less trustworthy if you just jump on the bandwagon during a bull market.

“You’re planting seeds for the whole bear market to basically reap the rewards in the bull markets,” he says.

“The key is to just stick to it until the proper bull market comes,” he says.

“When you have altseason and the views go up 10x, that’s when you make the Bugatti money, right?” he says.

Every now and then Carl Runefelt runs into a random business deal

But being a public figure in crypto isn’t for everyone.

Runefelt’s huge social media following inevitably spills into the real world, where he gets recognized “two or three times a day.”

Most people just want a selfie and to say they dig his videos, but, of course, some are a bit more opportunistic.

“Less common, but still common, they start pitching something. They want to pitch a project or something,” he says.

Runefelt says he’s never gone into business with someone who’s pitched him on the street, with one exception, Crypto Kid, the co-host of The Moon Show.

“He came up to me on the street one time, and he wanted to make content with me and learn from me,” he says. “I did take him to my office in the next couple of days, and then we actually had a chat, and I started coaching him a bit. And now he’s actually hosting on my channel,” he laughs.

However, Runefelt stresses that it was a one-time thing, so if you bump into him on the street, don’t bother pulling out your pitch deck; the odds aren’t in your favor.

Runefelt has a complicated relationship with fame. He admits it’s probably better to stay undercover in crypto, yet his brand and business revolve around being a public figure.

“I wouldn’t have made the money I made. So I don’t regret it,” he says.

“If there was a way to become like a multi-billionaire without no one ever knowing that would be the ultimate way of doing it right? I just don’t know how to do that,” he laughs.

That being said, Runefelt will one day call time on his crypto career. “My end goal for 2030 is actually to fully retire from crypto and go full on music and racing Ferraris on the track,” Runefelt says.

What is a day in the life of Carl like?

Runefelt admits that music is a much bigger passion for him than crypto.

“It’s like something that comes deeper from the soul. And I just love making music. I love writing songs and singing,” he says.

Some might wonder why Runefelt doesn’t just do both, after all, YouTube videos are only an hour, right? Not quite. They take up most of his week.

While a lot of people think viral YouTubers just drop a quick daily video clip and rake in the cash, Runefelt says it’s not that simple. It’s a full-on Monday-to-Friday job, with a dedicated office and a full-time team helping produce everything. 

Beyond content, Runefelt’s company, The Moon Group, also has another branch, Moon Ventures, which invests in a range of crypto projects.

Then there’s the content coaching agency, where Runefelt coaches YouTubers like Crypto Kid, and CryptoJobs.com, a job board for the crypto industry, where he is an adviser and investor.

Carl Moon’s crypto market outlook

Runefelt isn’t sure what’s in store for the crypto market this year and warns it could just end up being a total nothing burger.

“I’m actually like 50-50, either we go high, or we don’t like, I’m very confused with 2026,” he says.

“I do know that… before 2030, I’m very certain we will see half a million dollars to a million dollars per Bitcoin,” he says.

Davinci Jeremie, who is also a mate of Runefelt, recently told Magazine that “most likely, we’re going to go down” in 2026.

“Best case scenario where we come back to the all-time highs. It’s a possibility,” Jeremie said.

Runefelt says it doesn’t matter about Bitcoin and the broader crypto market’s performance in 2026. “I should be buying Bitcoin regardless of what’s happening in 2026 and then just accumulate to pop the champagne in 2030,” he says.