As far as the global economy is concerned, it fluctuates between bull and bear markets. These economic cycles can last years, even decades. Some say that the bull market starting from the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Crisis and lasting until the coronavirus pandemic was “the longest bull market in history.” This may or may not be true – as we’ve said, high time frame bull markets can be a matter of perspective.

Even so, let’s take a look at the long-term performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). We can see that it basically has been in a century-long bull market. Certainly, there are periods of decline that can last for years, such as 1929 or 2008, but the overall trend is still pointing upwards.

Some argue that we could see a similar trend with Bitcoin. But we can’t really tell if and when Bitcoin will face a multi-year bear market. It’s also worth noting that most other cryptocurrencies (i.e., altcoins) will probably never experience similar price appreciation, so be extremely aware of what you invest in.