The sustained slide in prices that replaced the exuberance of late 2017 has led to the longest bear market that cryptocurrency has ever seen. However, 2018 has been far from a wasted year. Just as the Jibrel team has been hard at work to bring our vision to fruition, debuting our Jwallet and Jcash solutions, so too have many other projects been launching their own concepts. As more and more companies, investors and governments pour into the crypto world, we inch closer to perhaps the most fruitful market cryptocurrency has ever seen. Yet no one factor can ever be responsible for this, but a congregation of catalysts working in tandem. They hide in plain sight, signaling bullish sentiment, yet continue to be largely ignored by the mainstream until, one day, they can no longer be. Here are 5 potential catalysts that may spark (or already have sparked) the beginning of the next crypto bull market.

1. Product Launches

The number of serious projects launched prior to the 2017 bull run was relatively small and concentrated at the protocol level, such as, Bitcoin clones or smart contract protocols. Since these smart contract protocols were still mostly in the process of development, there weren’t many products running on top of them. One of the criticisms of the former bull market was that it was driven by hype, not delivery. However, products take time to build and often build off one another. As a result of this and the explosive price growth of 2017, most DApps only commenced work in the past 12–- 16 months.

As we progress through 2019, these products are starting to launch. Taking a look at ‘DeFi’ (Decentralized Finance) DApps reveals a host of interlinked projects that are now operational. This includes:

Over 2m ETH (c. $250m) being locked up in MakerDAO CDPs

The ability to loan out cryptoassets through the likes of Compound

Betting on prediction markets like Augur or trading on decentralized exchanges

2. Build out of Supporting Crypto Infrastructure

A key part of increasing adoption of cryptoassets lies in making them more accessible. Back-end systems such as Augur and MakerDAO are great achievements, but difficult for normal users to use. InstaDApp launched to simplify the process of borrowing through MakerDAO, while Veil provides the same service for Augur. Crypto debit cards such as Monaco and Wirex allow users to spend their crypto as easily as they would spend cash.

We built the Jwallet to contribute to this ease of use by creating a wallet that was more similar to banking apps people were already be familiar with. For example, the Jwallet allows users to track transactions more easily, review their expenses and see all their assets at a glance.

3. The Rise of Stablecoins

Most people are not accustomed to considering an asset such as Bitcoin or Ethereum as a currency. This is partially why there are now many competing stablecoins, ranging from centralized dollar pegged coins, such as USDT (Tether) and USDC (Circle), to decentralized dollar pegged coins such as DAI. However, there needs to be an easier way for people to spend stablecoins. Jcash enables users to access different fiat-backed coins including JUSD, JEUR, JKRW and JGBP. This allows for the conversion of volatile digital assets to fiat-pegged ones. Enabling users to hold stablecoins provides an easier entry point into crypto and also allows for a wide range of use cases, stretching from payment for goods or services to paying employee salaries.

4. Institutional Investment

The crypto market has been eagerly awaiting the introduction of institutional investment for almost as long as Bitcoin has been tradeable, but there are signs that established and larger investors are starting to pay more attention to the space.

The SIX Swiss Exchange launched its Crypto Market Index 10 last year

US exchange operator Nasdaq is looking to launch its own Bitcoin futures market in 2019.

Grayscale, the largest crypto focused asset manager, raised $360m in 2018, 66% of which came from institutional investors.

Asset manager Morgan Creek Digital announced earlier this month that it had raised $40m for a blockchain venture fund. The deal was led by two public pensions and with a number of other pension plans and endowments subscribing.

Institutional investors require certain assurances before being able to invest in a new asset classes. While one important aspect is better custodial solutions, the introduction of more reliable exchanges will also bring new investors to the market. If cryptoassets became even a small part of institutional investors’ portfolios, the effect on the market would be dramatic.

5. Market Awareness

Crypto is rapidly becoming an inescapable part of life, whether the average person realizes it or not. Last month alone has seen phone giants Samsung and HTC make crypto a significant part of their new lineup, while Mark Zuckerberg spoke of using blockchain for Facebook’s login. This has been supplemented by the launch of bank owned cryptocurrencies by JP Morgan and Mizuho as well as the first real estate assets being tokenized and offered to investors.

The way to gain true adoption is to make crypto a part of people’s lives — without them realizing it. We are not at this stage yet, but there are more and more promising signs every day.