Is it the hardest period for Bitcoin's growth?

[kote777]

As for me, bitcoin seems to be going through the toughest period in its history. the market is now facing heavy regulations, lower trading volumes compared to previous bull cycles, almost zero new retail investors. mining difficulty and network security remain near all-time highs and make the system still strong. What I'm thinking about is whether this phase is another sign of long-term slowdown or just consolidation before growth.

[Catenaccio]

As for me, bitcoin seems to be going through the toughest period in its history. the market is now facing heavy regulations, lower trading volumes compared to previous bull cycles, almost zero new retail investors. mining difficulty and network security remain near all-time highs and make the system still strong. What I'm thinking about is whether this phase is another sign of long-term slowdown or just consolidation before growth.

The hardest times when Bitcoin was younger and it was more vulnerable to deaths. Now after many years since 2009, we know that Bitcoin will no longer be dead.
https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-obituaries/

Other hardest times are in bear market with many bearish months that bring losses to weak Bitcoin miners that have to capitulate from Bitcoin mining industry. These bearish months are full of fud and negative news against Bitcoin but strong Bitcoin miners will stay and take advantage of it to build up their mining farms, expand them bigger, and build up their Bitcoin portfolios.

https://charts.bitbo.io/miner-capitulation/

[The Cryptovator]

As for me, bitcoin seems to be going through the toughest period in its history. the market is now facing heavy regulations, lower trading volumes compared to previous bull cycles, almost zero new retail investors. mining difficulty and network security remain near all-time highs and make the system still strong. What I'm thinking about is whether this phase is another sign of long-term slowdown or just consolidation before growth.

Any source? Or is it just your own thoughts? From my perspective, it seems it's the easiest period for Bitcoin growth. There would be more regulations, but there is adaptation as well; regulations are just not alone. How have you been seeing zero retail investors? How have you measured them? Please share more details about your research sources. Yet Bitcoin looks to be doing well; it doesn't matter the price, but the overall growth is good to me.

The market conditions won't remain the same all the time; that's why Bitcoin is liked by a lot of people. Unless Bitcoin volatile, then you can't make money from there; we can say Bitcoin is in an accumulation zone right now. Even retail investors' entry won't be the same all the time as well. But it doesn't mean Bitcoin growth has been stopped anyway. I will advise doing more research before writing such a post, and don't be afraid about regulation. Bitcoin is decentralised and can't be controlled by the government anyway. Regulations are meant to protect citizens and charge tax from crypto-related services.

[Onyeeze]

As for me, bitcoin seems to be going through the toughest period in its history. the market is now facing heavy regulations, lower trading volumes compared to previous bull cycles, almost zero new retail investors. mining difficulty and network security remain near all-time highs and make the system still strong. What I'm thinking about is whether this phase is another sign of long-term slowdown or just consolidation before growth.

there is no time for bitcoin is the toughest time, what bitcoin is doing right now is what it has been doing since it's been launched in 2009 so there's not different thing that is happening in Bitcoin people have not experience, the price always regulate so if you are new for the system you have to observe how bitcoin price rises and also falls

Bitcoin does not have a specific time when the price increases and it does not also have a specific time when the price decreases in the market, the volume of the market determines by the quality investors, for the moment, Bitcoin come increase now and decreases tomorrow that has been his way since I know Bitcoin transaction

[Moreno233]

As for me, bitcoin seems to be going through the toughest period in its history. the market is now facing heavy regulations, lower trading volumes compared to previous bull cycles, almost zero new retail investors. mining difficulty and network security remain near all-time highs and make the system still strong. What I'm thinking about is whether this phase is another sign of long-term slowdown or just consolidation before growth.

Using those indices, I agree with you that this is the hardest period in history for Bitcoin because it is being stripped of most of the treasured qualities that made people embrace it. With full regulation in place, using Bitcoin will not have much difference from using fiat because everyone will know who owns what and who does whatever that involves transaction. In addiction, there is also the chances of the government policing Bitcoin like they do with fiat and the only thing they cannot do is mint more Bitcoin the way they print fiat.

In addition, the approval of Bitcoin ETF is responsible for the reduction in volume of transaction. People are buying into the ETFs and that does not seem to reflect on the real Bitcoin.

[tbct_mt2]

Any source? Or is it just your own thoughts? From my perspective, it seems it's the easiest period for Bitcoin growth. There would be more regulations, but there is adaptation as well; regulations are just not alone. How have you been seeing zero retail investors? How have you measured them? Please share more details about your research sources. Yet Bitcoin looks to be doing well; it doesn't matter the price, but the overall growth is good to me.

In any year, there are challenges and opportunities but in 2026, as a continuation of what happened in 2024 and 2025, Bitcoin market will grow more even there will be more regulations on this industry. More regulations don't mean something worse as in 2026 and next years, Bitcoin won't have risk from new regulations that can shut down this industry like earliest years.

Bitcoin since January 2024 with Spot ETF approvals in the USA and participations of many big companies from Wall Street has been becoming a part of traditional market. It won't die even more regulations will be enforced and it opens a most easiest period in Bitcoin history.

[Fiatless]

As for me, bitcoin seems to be going through the toughest period in its history. the market is now facing heavy regulations, lower trading volumes compared to previous bull cycles, almost zero new retail investors. mining difficulty and network security remain near all-time highs and make the system still strong. What I'm thinking about is whether this phase is another sign of long-term slowdown or just consolidation before growth.

Every period will come with its challenges and advantages. You didn't mention that regulations in the US are not as stringent as they were during the past administration. There is also an increase in institutional investors. You would have given more explanation about the mining and network security problems you just highlighted. These challenges will be overcome as Bitcoin has always done. 

[sheenshane]

What I'm thinking about is whether this phase is another sign of long-term slowdown or just consolidation before growth.

It's time for you to accumulate instead of getting FOMOed.
Don't panic, this isn't new in the market.  When there's downtime, get ready for the up time.

Well, I saw a video yesterday on YouTube, an interview on Yahoo Finance, with the Coinbase head of institutional strategy, John D'Agostino, said.
Bitcoin is now in the recovery phase due to the liquidity crisis in October, and people are starting to get FOMO.  Possibly, this was the reason.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5mNeGUpS2w

[FirmWars]

As for me, bitcoin seems to be going through the toughest period in its history.

Any source? Or is it just your own thoughts?

He's not sure, that was why he said, "As for me," Which he is implying that in his thoughts or opinion, Bitcoin is going through the toughest period. What ever idea or reason that made him say so was never clearly stated on this thread and I do not also agree with him just like you didn't.

Bitcoin is in its best period considering that this is even supposed to be a bear cycle for Bitcoin Bitcoin it's not falling as was expected, and there's also no big dump in price as it happened years back that made people think that Bitcoin was dying. I don't see any difficult period that Bitcoin is going through right now that is compared to what's behind it.

[Asuspawer09]

As for me, bitcoin seems to be going through the toughest period in its history. the market is now facing heavy regulations, lower trading volumes compared to previous bull cycles, almost zero new retail investors. mining difficulty and network security remain near all-time highs and make the system still strong. What I'm thinking about is whether this phase is another sign of long-term slowdown or just consolidation before growth.

I mean it is surely expected since Bitcoin is getting adopt in a lot of countries so we are expecting a lot of regulations is going to happened depending on the countries not all countries is just going to embrace and make Bitcoin something because they just can't do it it is not something that they can countrol, it is not something that the government can control like the fiat money that they are using so, not all countries is going to used it, It is getting adopted but with regulations I mean it is surely a income stream to the government or somekind of tools since it is going to be tax sooner or later.

Compared to the past years it is not getting used by a lot of platforms even banks and the government are now using it as a tool or even creating a crypto reserved I would say that it is already a huge growth for Bitcoin compared in the past years where only a few people only know about Bitcoin and they are not really interested on it because it is most of the time getting related to scams. It is going to control to be adopted in a lot of countries for sure we could expect even a lot more investors are going to be interested but for sure there will be more regulations coming as it get adopted it is just the way it is. But still market price for sure is still going on uptrend for sure.

[pawel7777]

As for me, bitcoin seems to be going through the toughest period in its history. the market is now facing heavy regulations, lower trading volumes compared to previous bull cycles, almost zero new retail investors. mining difficulty and network security remain near all-time highs and make the system still strong. What I'm thinking about is whether this phase is another sign of long-term slowdown or just consolidation before growth.

In the early days, there were serious concerns that Bitcoin could be completely delegalised in all major countries, and there was a strong sentiment against it. Fast forward to today, we have spot ETFs and countries (incl. US) with strategic crypto reserves. There will always be some regulatory risks, especially in area of anonymous use, but to imply such risks are greater than they were in the past is factually incorrect.

Same with the trading volume, at least that measured in USD, which (in its peaks) was much higher than in previous cycles. Perhaps you mean trading volume measured in BTC, in which case it could and should be lower, as block subsidies are incomparably lower and each bitcoin is worth far more than in times when 2 pizzas were bought for BTC10,000.

[Bluedrem]

When the price of Bitcoin fell from $64,000 to around $15,000 in 2022, a more complicated situation arose. I would not say that the current state of Bitcoin is very difficult because Bitcoin is stable around $90,000 and at any moment it can cross $100,000. At the same time, many analysts believe that Bitcoin can create another ATH before August 2026. Yes, the price of Bitcoin has never always been upward. The price of Bitcoin will increase and decrease and increase and continue like this until Bitcoin reaches more and more people.

[retreat]

You're so wrong. This is not Bitcoin's toughest period in its history. In fact, this is a pretty good period in the history of Bitcoin, because institutional adoption continues to increase, governments are starting to open up and even use Bitcoin as a reserve, and the growth of global adoption is quite positive. Even though currently only around 4% of the world's population owns Bitcoin, that is a pretty good number for a digital asset that is still relatively new compared to gold or other instruments - so there is still a lot of room for future growth. And even though there were price corrections that caused Bitcoin's price to drop, it was a natural and expected part of Bitcoin's market cycle, and these pullbacks have consistently served as consolidation phases before the price increases, not a sign of hampered growth.

[bangjoe]

As for me, bitcoin seems to be going through the toughest period in its history. the market is now facing heavy regulations, lower trading volumes compared to previous bull cycles, almost zero new retail investors. mining difficulty and network security remain near all-time highs and make the system still strong. What I'm thinking about is whether this phase is another sign of long-term slowdown or just consolidation before growth.

Every period will come with its challenges and advantages. You didn't mention that regulations in the US are not as stringent as they were during the past administration. There is also an increase in institutional investors. You would have given more explanation about the mining and network security problems you just highlighted. These challenges will be overcome as Bitcoin has always done. 

He said it based on personal assumptions by looking at the slow and relatively stagnant bitcoin price movement over a long period of time, I don't know maybe he just saw bitcoin like this which is basically every cycle is also almost the same, seeing how adoption increases as a whole not judged by data, even though we are now still at $80k +, if we judge it from the price of $16k in 2022 I think he will forget what he said and not consider the slow growth of bitcoin.

+Regulation is getting clearer
+Institutional adoption
+Retail Expansion

I actually believe that bitcoin is starting to reduce its price fluctuations in the current cycle which is clearly due to consistent adoption and relatively small sales.

[Lida93]

As for me, bitcoin seems to be going through the toughest period in its history. the market is now facing heavy regulations, lower trading volumes compared to previous bull cycles, almost zero new retail investors. mining difficulty and network security remain near all-time highs and make the system still strong. What I'm thinking about is whether this phase is another sign of long-term slowdown or just consolidation before growth.

If you think this is the toughest period in bitcoin history then it clearly illustrates that you haven't taken a walk down into bitcoin historical strides to date. Apart from the increasing regulations that we have currently I think it's one of the best times for bitcoin in terms of growth and hope for bitcoin maximalists for what the future of bitcoin holds when we analyse the rate of institutional adoptions and the competitions among these institutions in bitcoin accumulation along with government strategic reserves. I don't think this period can be spoken to be the toughest period in Bitcoin history.

[r_victory]

Bitcoin has, in a way, already established itself as the "king" of cryptocurrencies, and the fact that it's going through a period considered turbulent by some (I don't see it that way) won't stop its growth. The market is like that; it's impossible for an asset to grow without a downturn. Investors have different objectives, and many take advantage of this to profit, causing a price drop, while others wait for the drop to buy, causing the price to rise. I don't understand the panic or apocalyptic view some people have about something so normal when it comes to cryptocurrencies. It's in these "hardest" moments that Bitcoin demonstrates its strength.

[Mrbluntzy]

the market is now facing heavy regulations, lower trading volumes compared to previous bull cycles, almost zero new retail investors.

The heavy regulation seems not to be having any serious negative effect on the market and as a matter of fact the U.S regulation happens to be more friendly with Bitcoin and the crypto market in 2025 compared to how strict the previous government was before Trump assumed sit again. I read that Hong Kong and Singapore implemented more strict rules for crypto users but all of those new regulation didn't prevent Bitcoin from doing extremely well even till now.

You are talking about low trading volume and comparing it with previous bur cycle, don't tell me that you don't know that we are no longer in a bull cycle following the history of Bitcoin we are no longer in bull cycle and the price of Bitcoin was even far above what it was in the cycle you are talking about.

There are so many retail investors and also institutions buying more Bitcoins every day, most of them are not just making announcement, I guess that's why you think that there's no retail investors. There are many retail investors, you are not aware of them, Bitcoin is private.

[yhiaali3]

Bitcoin is going through a difficult period, but it's not the most difficult in its history. This is normal and happens in all markets, not just the crypto market. There are always new challenges and new opportunities. Throughout its long history, Bitcoin has overcome challenges that were far more difficult than this one.

The decline in trading volumes, as you mentioned, doesn't reflect difficulties Bitcoin is facing. These are difficulties that exist in all markets. As for network security, I don't see any problem. Bitcoin remains, as it always has been, the most secure decentralized network ever.

[bitcoindusts]

As for me, bitcoin seems to be going through the toughest period in its history. the market is now facing heavy regulations, lower trading volumes compared to previous bull cycles, almost zero new retail investors. mining difficulty and network security remain near all-time highs and make the system still strong.

I disagree, Bitcoin's early days is the toughest period in its history.  There are lots of hesitations, misconceptions, people who have ill-intent to defame Bitcoin, and manipulators.  What we experience today is not even something to compare with when Bitcoin are just getting recognized by masses.  Remember the times where Bitcoin were believed to be only used as criminals money? 

What I'm thinking about is whether this phase is another sign of long-term slowdown or just consolidation before growth.

Are you implying to the transition to bear market?  Transitioning to bear market is inevitable, but we have witnessed in every cycle there is this massive growth of the Bitcoin market that leads to breaking of ATH.

[Alonso_]

I don’t think there is any bad moments for Bitcoin right now, what you just have to do is keep buying Bitcoin and that would be just enough as things progress, right now the price of Bitcoin is still in a stable way, which is why we should always endeavor to buy bitcoin consistently and don’t even think about what is happening with bitcoin, Bitcoin have gotten to a stage that we would no longer be considering what happens with bitcoins, Bitcoin will always grow and there is no certainty when it comes to buying bitcoin, Bitcoin would only give you a certainty and guarantee, which is why it’s only important to consider buying bitcoin even when their is a price dip in bitcoin accumulation.