Welcome news — the month of May has started as a calm one for cryptocurrencies. With the total market cap stabilizing at around $400b, traders are enjoying a welcome respite from the dramatic volatility of January. The start of the year saw a staggering collapse of the market, falling from a high of $827b to a low of $279b.

Whilst the crash made many headlines at the time, the markets have recovered well since then. April’s steady rise has been consolidated this month, and the market appears to be in a classic refuelling position.

Assuming the year so far has been a classic market correction, there’s a very good chance 2018 is set to be the biggest year on record.

Bitcoin, along with Ethereum, LiteCoin, Monero and Rippleet et al are regularly mentioned in mainstream media, creating an unprecedented level of public awareness. When confidence returns to cryptocurrency markets, a floodgate of investment will likely be opened.

Not only is awareness spreading, many projects are preparing to launch on the mainnet, providing cheaper services that will make centralized competitors redundant.

This promising environment has led to some bold predictions. Co-Founder of Reddit Alexis Ohanian has forecast a $15,000 Ethereum valuation by the end of the year, a would-be 2500 percent increase that would see the total market cap of cryptocurrencies raise well into the trillions.

Whether this will be the case is impossible to predict, but it’s clear that the pieces are in place this spring for record-breaking growth. Year-on-year, the valuation of cryptocurrencies has increased exponentially, and betting against developing technology has, historically, rarely been wise.