1) Crypto assets from ages ago start pumping again despite lacking meaningful news, partnerships, developer activity, and fundamentals.
The best example to date is Verge (XVG). It’s pumped about 450% over the past 30 days. Yet, it’s down by over 90% from its all-time high in December 2017…
2) Tether rapidly increases USDT printing. Over the past four weeks, it’s printed $15 billion of its stablecoin, bringing its market cap from $120 billion to $135 billion.
3) The mainstream media* take a keen interest in the asset class once again.
*Except for CNBC and other finance and business-focused outlets that have reported on BTC and digital assets even during the bear markets.
4) The cliché of your taxi driver telling you to get back into BTC and altcoins.
5) Jim Cramer’s special advice about when to buy and sell Bitcoin (see ‘Inverse Cramer’).
6) You struggle to sleep because your preferred altcoin is up 45% today and 260% for the week… you’re waiting for abrupt profit-taking.
7) You’re a noob^ at the trading game and decide to use 5–10x leverage for altcoins, but you don’t understand stop losses. You get too greedy and ultimately get wrecked.
^This was me in 2017. I’ve still got some PTSD from leverage trading BTC, ETH, and LTC back then.
8) Scams, particularly phishing and AI-generated content of famous people telling you to buy, become much more pervasive (again).
9) Friends, family, exes, and online followers (other “friends”) message you out of the blue and ask you for advice about Bitcoin and crypto.
I barely tell anyone about my investments, only a few close people, to inform them about the massive opportunities.
To paraphrase a dating adage:
“If you can’t handle Bitcoin/crypto at its worst, you don’t deserve it at its best.”
10) More people call Dave Ramsey and his team for advice about Bitcoin and other crypto assets. He responds with his usual comment about how “stupid” they are.
Even if he does a 180 and admits he was wrong (alongside other Bitcoin haters), it’s too little, too late.
Notable mention: The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY)
The conventional wisdom surrounding the DXY and crypto is that crypto prices tend to drop as the Index increases, and vice versa.
However, looking at the 2024 data, I do not see a strong correlation versus previous years.
Nonetheless, keep an eye on this chart while tracking the crypto market.
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Additional thoughts
Bull runs are a bizarre beast. Some relatively older cryptos are seldom discussed (SAND, IOTA, NEO, even Verge/XVG…I haven’t heard Verge mentioned in over six years; don’t get me started about EOS.
This tells me that retail is making its way back into the fold.
For example, people who don’t understand these projects see old names making a “comeback” and think there might be a chance to claw back losses or (if the stars align) profit once again.
If it had pumped before, and now that BTC has hit a new high, XRP is climbing again, and the overall market’s approaching $4 trillion, surely my favourite altcoin will also pump, right?
Not so fast. The idea of “A rising ride floats all boats” is misleading.
Yes, you’ll see cryptos up 100% for the year…but then you zoom out and realise that various altcoins are still down 80% from their all-time high (ATH).
Many gaming and metaverse-themed coins and tokens (among others) fall into this category.
Some will recover and eclipse their ATHs or come close to breaking even; others never return there and vanish into the ether.
Evaluate your portfolio and consider converting some of those dormant altcoins to ones with momentum.
HONEY, ONDO, ENA, HNT and PENDLE come to mind. I’ve identified other digital assets in these recent pieces.
It’s possible that these could help overturn some of your losses by cashing out what you have, but that’s for you to decide.
Alternatively, keep your existing assets — assuming they’re worth peanuts now and there’s little incentive to cash them out — and put some extra that you can afford (and are willing) to lose into the small- and mid-caps with potential.
Don’t forget the blue-chip assets as well.
What other bull-run indicators did I leave out? Comment below.
Disclaimers
• N.B. None of this is financial advice; I am not a financial advisor. You are ultimately responsible for crypto investments, let alone in any asset class.
• The opinions expressed within this piece are my own and might not reflect those behind any news outlet, person, organisation, or otherwise listed here.
• Please do sufficient research before investing in any crypto assets, staking, NFTs or other products affiliated with this space.
Image (AI-generated) by talukderbristy36 at Freepik. Unspecified base model.