I remember how dire the situation seemed at the end of 2019.
More than two years had passed since the previous bull-run, when Bitcoin nearly hit $20k and Ethereum almost topped $1500. By the end of 2019 though, Bitcoin had taken the stairs down to ~$6600, and Ethereum was hovering around $121.
After two years of constantly falling prices, things had started to feel pretty hopeless. Back in those days, I had to cut back significantly on living expenses by moving into a shared house in the suburbs, purchasing a bus pass, and cooking at home.
Watching your porfolio take hit after hit month after month is discouraging to say the least, and makes you feel like giving up. But I was convinced that the Bitcoin price pattern would repeat again, just like what had happened in 2011 and 2013:
You may be wondering why this price pattern has repeated itself more than four times now. Well, aside from Bitcoin simply being a better form of money, you have to understand that the fiat system cannot survive without exponential debt/money creation.
Convid gave the central planners another excuse to print ungodly amounts of money, which led to the bull-run of 2021. Now that we're in 2025 interest rates have been raised to roughly 5%, sucking a lot of liquidity out of the system, and deflating the markets.
With a national debt closing in on $37 trillion and rates at near 5%, interest payments have become the government's third largest expense. Moreover, $7 to $9 trillion of the debt will have to be rolled over in 2025 at much higher rates.
Add Trump's tariffs to the existing debt burden and we have a recipe for even worse economic conditions that will likely require monetary relief. It would be quite something to see 2025 play out without another emergency that required cutting rates (and printing money).
Consider the historical context as well.
Back in 2019, the Fed had only succeeded in lowering rates for seven months before the system broke and they had to drop them to zero. Well, here we are again - it has been seven months since the Fed started lowering rates last August.
This is part of the reason why you will survive this bear market if you just lower your expenses, do your research, and hold on.
In addition to the macro situation, we also must take into account just how much everyone in crypto has been hustling over the past few years.
When you consider all the brilliant minds, engaged communities, and dedicated individuals working on the thousands of projects that make up the crypto space, it's hard to imagine this bear market lasting for much longer.
Until next time...
If you learned something new from this article, be sure to check out my other posts on crypto and finance here on the Hive blockchain. You can also follow me on InLeo for more frequent updates.