About every four years, the number of new bitcoins paid to miners is cut in half: the halving. Less new supply has historically come before big rallies, but past cycles are not a promise.
Crypto tends to move in broad phases:
- Accumulation: prices flat, interest low.
- Expansion: Bitcoin leads, then larger altcoins, then smaller ones ("alt season").
- Euphoria: heavy media coverage, new tokens everywhere, Fear & Greed stuck at "extreme greed".
- Decline: drops of 70–80% from the top have happened in past cycles.
Use the cycle as context, not a timer. Each cycle has looked different.