Bull market

A bull market describes more than a single green candle: it is a sustained shift in market psychology where optimism, buying pressure, and rising prices feed off each other for months at a stretch. Traders often reference the bull's upward horn thrust to describe the chart pattern, in contrast to a bear market's downward claw.

In crypto, bull markets tend to follow a recognizable pattern. Bitcoin usually leads the advance first, often coinciding with anticipation around its roughly four-year halving cycle, which cuts the new supply issued to miners. As Bitcoin sets fresh all-time highs and its dominance of total market value climbs, capital eventually rotates into altcoins, a phase traders call "altseason." Rising exchange sign-ups, surging trading volume, expanding DeFi activity, and heavier social media chatter all typically accompany the move.

• Sentiment indicators such as the Fear and Greed Index shift toward "Greed" or "Extreme Greed."
• Mainstream and financial media coverage becomes noticeably more positive.
• Smaller, higher-risk tokens can post triple- or quadruple-digit gains within weeks.

Because crypto is far more volatile than traditional equities, some analysts apply a looser threshold than the classic 20%-gain rule used in stock markets. Bull markets carry real risk: euphoric phases can encourage overleveraged positions, and history shows every crypto bull run has eventually given way to a sharp correction or bear market, making risk management essential even when sentiment turns strongly bullish.