Since its impressive peak at nearly $69,000 in November 2021, the cryptocurrency giant Bitcoin (BTC), along with the wider crypto space, has embarked on a protracted bear market.
Struggling to retrace its steps to those historic highs achieved almost two years ago, Bitcoin finds itself entangled in its lengthiest bearish market to date, spanning approximately 490 days, crypto expert Michaël van de Poppe pointed out on August 27.
Currently, Bitcoin’s value languishes over 50% below its all-time high, underscoring the challenges and uncertainties that have defined the crypto landscape during this extended period.
According to Poppe, the current bearish phase can be compared to the one witnessed in 2015, characterized by “a period of sideways action, where the faith in crypto is slowly getting lost too, despite the fact of solid fundamental growth.”
Poppe highlights potential BTC price catalysts
Further in the post, Poppe offered words of comfort for investors, particularly those for whom this is the first heavy bear market.
However, this period of turmoil is also an opportunity for new investors to learn how to keep moving forward and use these situations to identify new opportunities, the crypto guru added.
“And just because it hurts, you’ll learn. You’ll keep moving forward and you’ll identify new opportunities and experiences you’ll be using later in the cycle or the next cycle.”
– Poppe said.
Meanwhile, there are a number of developments that could potentially turn out to be significant catalysts for BTC that are not being reflected in the cryptocurrency’s price at all during the ongoing bear market.
For instance, BTC has started garnering the attention of global governments and traditional institutional investors. Earlier this year, BlackRock, and a number of other institutions, filed applications to launch spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Moreover, the first spot BTC ETF went live in Europe, the Sultanate of Oman announced plans to invest over $1 billion in Bitcoin mining infrastructure, and Hong Kong made significant endeavors to regulate crypto and attract digital asset firms to the city.
All of the aforementioned potential BTC price catalysts are currently lagging behind “as the market is stuck in the ‘bear market modus’, as the past 2 years price has been falling.”
Market is experiencing ‘time capitulation’
Because of this, crypto investors are expressing pessimistic emotions, raising questions like ‘Why is the market not moving at all?’
However, switching cycles take a long time in crypto, with the crypto market currently experiencing the ‘time capitulation’ phase, Poppe noted.
But after this stage has passed, “the expansion and acceleration usually trick you,” said Poppe. For that reason, it is crucial to remain calm during the current downturn and learn, as well as use these experiences in the upcoming trends.
Meanwhile, BTC was trading 0.56% lower at $25,944 at press time on August 28. The leading crypto asset fell more than 1.8% over the past 5 days and over 11% on the month.
Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.
