Market cycles are particular trends and patterns that are influenced by the psychology of investors as well as the overall state of the economy. As implied by the name, cycles repeat. Every market experiences this occurrence naturally, and the cryptocurrency market is no different. However, compared to the stock market, cycles in crypto can be significantly shorter due to the rapid price movements.

There are four distinct phases in a crypto market cycle: Accumulation, Markup, Distribution and Markdown. Each phase can be differentiated by sentiments of the market participants and the market activity itself. In each cycle, the price of an asset will move from an all-time low to an all-time high, and vice versa.