The ongoing Bitcoin halving cycle is being dubbed as the most peculiar bull market in the crypto industry, characterized by an early Bitcoin all-time high and a significant surge in memecoins. Chainlink community liaison Zach Rynes, also known as ‘ChainLinkGod,’ expressed his thoughts on this unusual market trend to his 171,000 followers on X, stating, “this bull market has been weird.” Traditionally, during bull runs, liquidity would flow into Bitcoin first, followed by Ethereum and other high-cap coins, and eventually trickle down the chain. However, this time, market dynamics have deviated from the norm, with funds moving straight from BTC to memecoins, which is considered atypical.
The total capitalization of memecoins soared to $70 billion on April 1, largely driven by surges in newly launched tokens like Solana-based ‘dogwifhat’ (WIF) and Book of Meme (BOME), as well as older memecoins like Pepe (PEPE) and Bonk (BONK). Memecoin speculation has also been rampant on the Coinbase layer-2 network, Base. One notable example is the Base-native token DEGEN, which has skyrocketed a staggering 2,800% in the past month. DEGEN is an unofficial token distributed to the community on the decentralized social network, Farcaster.
Rynes further emphasized that market fundamentals are currently not playing a significant role. Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano, echoing similar sentiments on April 1, stated that after being involved in the crypto industry for around a decade, he can confidently say that this is the strangest bull market the industry has ever witnessed. He added that retail investors will not actively participate until the entire market experiences a collective surge.
Another factor contributing to the peculiarity of this market cycle is that Bitcoin has achieved its all-time high prior to the halving event. In previous cycles, the all-time high occurred the year after the halving. Bitcoin reached $73,734 on March 14, and the BTC halving is now just 18 days away, scheduled for April 20. Analysts have already predicted that the pre-halving retracement is over. On April 1, technical analyst Moustache highlighted that BTC had reclaimed a crucial Fibonacci ratio level observed in previous cycles, but this time, it happened before the halving.
In conclusion, the current Bitcoin halving cycle is being regarded as the strangest bull market in the crypto industry. Memecoins have witnessed a significant surge, bypassing the usual flow of liquidity from Bitcoin to high-cap coins. Market fundamentals are not playing a significant role at the moment, and the all-time high for Bitcoin has occurred earlier than expected. This market cycle is truly unprecedented and has left industry experts perplexed.