‘Strap yourselves in’ — Bull market coming early 2024, say crypto exchange heads

The market has already entered the first phase of a major rally, with the number of people buying crypto trickling upward which is expected to accelerate early next year, say the heads of Australia’s largest crypto exchanges.

Independent Reserve CEO Adrian Przelozny told Cointelegraph he expects market activity to see an uptick in early 2024 and is hiring to build infrastructure before that happens.

“We’re just doing everything we can to get ready for a bull market because we know that when the bull market comes, it happens very fast,” he said. “You need to make sure you have the processes, people, and infrastructure in place so when your business triples overnight, you can handle it.”

“I think the next two years are going to be good. Strap yourselves in.”

BTC Markets chief Caroline Bowler said market conditions had grown more bullish over the year, with a general recovery that kicked off in January.

Bowler added while the trajectory of market gains hadn’t exactly been linear, the industry-wide growth in both asset prices and tech applications were reasons to be confident.

“The current deployment of ‘dry powder,’ an influx of new users, and an uptick in trading volumes further support our assessment that we are in the early stages of a bull market.”

Tommy Honan, Swyftx’s product strategy head, said his exchange had begun to see an uptick in buying activity and is moving quickly to shore up direct debit functionality — a recent pain point for Australia’s crypto scene as Australia’s ‘Big Four’ banks have limited or outright banned deposits to some exchanges.

Honan ruled out fear of missing out — FOMO — as the reason for the activity uptick, instead highlighting that market fundamentals had become more attractive to investors who took the sideline during the bear market.

“All our indicators are flashing green at the moment. We’re seeing a significant number of customers come back to the market after periods of inactivity during the bear market. The market is waking up, but the truth is no one knows where we’re at in the cycle.”

Kraken Australia managing director Jonathon Miller was on the side of caution and said it can be difficult to tell what phase the market is in.

“There’s a common misconception that the crypto markets are either in a bull market or bear market. In reality, there’s a large gray area between these two,” he said.

Miller admitted that compared to this time last year, there are plenty of…