A quick guide to the bull market

BASE LAYER // Issue #3
Clarity for long-term crypto holders.

GM everyone.

The market has been up in the last few weeks.

So let’s be honest: bull markets are intoxicating.

Suddenly, your weird cousin who never read a whitepaper is up 6x.
Everyone becomes a “macro analyst.” Every buy looks brilliant.
A memecoin you’d never admit owning is now funding people’s Teslas.

And for a brief window, it feels like you’ve hacked life.

You’re checking your portfolio 12 times a day. You’ve got spreadsheets open, tabs full of tokens you barely researched.
You feel smart. You feel early. You feel... unstoppable.

But here’s the truth the bull market never tells you:

You’re not being rewarded for skill. You’re being carried by a rising tide.

You see, the market lifts everyone—until it doesn’t.

In a bull, even bad trades go up.
Even terrible tokens catch a narrative.
Even people without a plan feel like visionaries.

Because in a bull, everything works. Until it doesn’t.

Then the music stops.
And it doesn’t stop gradually.
It stops all at once.

Volume dries up. Hype evaporates.
Suddenly the “strong community” is radio silent.
The devs disappear. The influencers pivot to AI.
And you’re left staring at a red chart wondering how you roundtripped another 10x.

This is when the real investor gets separated from the lucky tourist.

Here’s a hard truth: Bull markets are where money is made. Bear markets are where conviction is revealed.

It’s where you find out:

• Did I have a plan?

• Did I size this right?

• Did I take profits when I could have?

• Was I optimizing for wealth—or status?

• Was I playing someone else’s game?

Most people never ask these questions—until it’s too late.

They mistake gains for skill.
They mistake exposure for insight.
They mistake momentum for mastery.

Then they spend the next cycle licking their wounds, promising they’ll “do it differently next time.”

But you don’t need to wait for next time.
You can fix it now.

Here’s how to stay grounded in the middle of a mania…

You don’t need to sell everything.
You don’t need to run to cash.

But you do need to set anchors before euphoria sets in.

Here’s what I do in every bull market:

1. Revisit my core thesis – Why did I enter this asset? Is that still true?

2. Audit portfolio size vs. net worth – Am I accidentally overexposed because prices ran up?

3. Write down exit plans – Not vibes. Rules. 25% at 2x. 25% at 5x. Rinse and repeat.

4. List my regrets from the last cycle – Then make sure I don’t repeat them.

The goal isn’t to “top tick” the market. That’s a fool’s game.

The goal is to walk away with freedom.

Because gains don’t mean anything until you translate them into something real.

That means:

• Allocating without attachment

• Exiting without ego

• Taking profit even when it feels premature

• Asking yourself what this money is for—not just what it could become

You don’t need a crystal ball.
You need a backbone.

The smartest investors I know didn’t make the most.
They kept the most.

They weren’t early. They were disciplined.

They walked away from the table with cash in their hand—not screenshots in their camera roll.

So if you’re feeling invincible right now? Good.
Just know the market isn’t on your side.

It’s not rooting for you. It’s not testing your brilliance. It’s testing your preparation.

TL;DR: The bull market doesn’t care about you. But your future self does. Make decisions now that they’ll thank you for later.

– Alex
Founder, Base Layer