The world of cryptocurrency moves very quickly, with coins and other commodities rapidly changing in their value. Because of this, it can be quite hard to tell when a bull or bear market might be happening within the crypto sphere.

However, the crypto market definitely has periods of ups and downs, just like any other market. For buyers converting from BTC to USD as seen on Binance, Forbes and Yahoo Finance for example, the crypto market toward the start of 2024 was certainly more of a bear market, according to Forbes, Binance, and the Financial Times. To learn what this means, let’s discuss the complex world of financial terminology.

What are bull markets and bear markets?

Well, as with most forms of communication, the meanings can change and shift with time and context. However, thankfully, there is a clear meaning underneath this confusion.

Generally speaking, a bull market refers to a market when things are on the up, and a bear market refers to a market when things are in decline. More specifically, these growths or decreases should be by at least 20% of the asset’s value.

Beyond that general concept, though, bull markets and bear markets are not terms that have hard and fast meanings. Instead, a ‘bull market’ might be one day during which stock prices have generally risen. However, a bull market could just as soon be used to refer to a period of growth over the course of six months, a year, or more.

The exact reason why these particular animals were chosen to describe market trends has somewhat been lost to time. However, it’s generally considered that their ongoing popularity is due to the level of strength and volatility that they evoke: just like financial markets.

The most frequent reason for the terms being used is quite simple. It’s that bulls typically attack upward, pushing their horns into the air. Bears, however, will rear up and swipe downward with their paws.

What are the signs of a bull market in typical trading?

Well, fitting in with the general definition outlined above, a bull market is considered any form of market in which the price of a certain commodity has increased by twenty percent or more. This might be over the course of a few days but is typically over the course of a few months.

Quite often, economists and traders will use the S&P 500 Index as their main benchmark for the performance of the US economy as a whole. The reason for this is that it’s a single figure that follows the performance of 500 companies, all of which are in the US.

Because of this usage of the Index, a general bull market can be said to have taken place when the S&P 500 Index has increased in value by 20%.

What are the signs of a bull market for a crypto coin?

At first glance, this question might seem complicated. After all, if crypto is decentralized, then how could you have a centralized index fund to check in on?

Well, there is certainly one cryptocurrency that’s much more popular than all of the others: Bitcoin. Because of this popularity, many economists and traders consider Bitcoin to be indicative of general market trends for the rest of the crypto sphere.

Notably, this was seen during the 2021-2022 crypto bull run. During this period of time, Bitcoin experienced a rapid amount of gains. These gains were then swiftly followed by an uptick in a number of alternative cryptocurrencies.

How can you use a bull market for crypto profit?

Since a bull market can be defined as one that is experiencing general growth, the way to make that market turn a profit for you is the same as in any other market.

Generally speaking, you’ll be best served by buying assets and commodities that are low in price, at the start of the bull run. With time in a bull market, it’s likely that these assets will increase in value.

Therefore, a smart decision would be to do some research to determine which coins are most unusually low in their value. Then, as that coin increases in value, you’ll maximize the amount of profit that you make.

This research can also function as something of an insurance policy, provided you’re doing it far enough in advance.

For instance, let’s say that you’re able to purchase a cryptocurrency while it’s at an all-time low. A crypto bull market can pump up the value of that coin by quite a large margin, but then after the market returns to more stable trends, the value will normalize. By having the foresight to buy the coin at its all-time low cost, you were still hypothetically able to make money, even if you didn’t sell when the coin’s value was at its peak.

The crypto market is huge and complex, and only becoming more complicated with time as further parties gain more and more interest, and the technology is more widely adopted. However, decades of statistical analysis across more conventional markets can help you to identify trends, and consider how they might be able to make you some profit.