Are you still waiting for the headlines to confirm a bull market? If you’re relying on ETF flows, price pumps, or crypto Twitter hype to tell you what’s real, you’re already late. The real signals show up earlier, quieter, and smarter. This piece breaks down the underrated bull market signs that pros watch long before retail catches on. Here’s what to know so you can show up early and avoid being exit liquidity.
KEY TAKEAWAYS ➤ Early bull market signals are subtle but measurable. They show up in stablecoin flows, bridge inflows, DEX liquidity, and on-chain behavior long before prices move. ➤ Retail indicators like ETF inflows and trending tokens often lag. Smart capital acts before these signals appear, not after. ➤ Pro investors track intent, not hype. They watch what users, builders, and liquidity providers do, not what the market says.
So, how do you actually know you’re in a bull market before the headlines catch up? It starts with subtle shifts in behavior, capital, and in code. Here are the seven signs you should closely monitor to become a pro:
Now, let’s go over each sign and understand it in detail.
One of the earliest bull market signs is hidden in how stablecoins behave when prices are still flat.
Start by watching the on-chain supply of major stablecoins like USDC, USDT, and DAI. If supply across chains is stable or gradually rising, but those coins aren’t flowing into centralized exchanges, it’s a strong sign that users aren’t planning to exit. The capital is staying inside the ecosystem, ready but not in a rush.
A key scenario to track is this: If on-chain stablecoin supply holds steady, but exchange inflows start dropping, that means funds are being parked, not deployed, and definitely not cashed out. This is often the liquidity base of an upcoming move.
You might also notice stablecoin balances growing on L2s or alt-L1s while remaining inactive. That’s another clue: early accumulation before rotations begin.
Even if you don’t have charts for everything, a single dashboard comparing stablecoin supply vs exchange inflow (from tools like DeFiLlama, Glassnode, or CryptoQuant) can often reveal this mismatch clearly.
In late December 2023, USDC supply across chains like Arbitrum and Base remained steady, while USDC exchange inflows dropped by over 35% week-on-week, according to CryptoQuant. ETH was flat around $2,300, and there was no major news in the market. But capital was clearly not exiting. Two weeks later, TVL on L2s surged, and ETH began its move toward $2,800. The stablecoin mismatch was the signal — price just hadn’t followed yet.
This mismatch — rising or stable supply followed by falling inflow — is the quiet tension before a breakout.
The next underrated bull market sign shows up in bridge activity: quiet, steady flows between chains when prices haven’t moved yet.
You’re not looking for total hype volume. Instead, keep an eye out for net inflows moving into ecosystems like Arbitrum, Base, or Optimism via major bridges (Hop, Stargate, LayerZero) while price action remains dead quiet.
Here’s what to track:
When inflows start outpacing withdrawals, and that trend holds for five–seven days, it’s a signal that capital is rotating early. Funds are positioning before the narratives kick in.
You can spot this using the DeFiLlama Bridges dashboard — switch to “Net Flow by Chain,” set it to weekly view, and look for rising inflows into a specific chain. Bonus: if the chain’s TVL is also increasing (L2Beat or DeFiLlama TVL tracker), it confirms that liquidity is settling in.
In January 2024, Base quietly saw net bridge inflows of over $110M in a single week, while withdrawals stayed under $30M. There was no major news or token spike, and ETH stayed flat around $2,500. But smart money was already bridging in, expecting Base’s upcoming grants program and ecosystem incentives. Two weeks later, TVL on Base jumped nearly 40%, and key projects like Aerodrome and Seamless spiked in activity and price. The bridge flows told the story before the market did.
If inflows are rising, withdrawals are calm, and tokens are still asleep, you’re watching the early signs of rotation before ignition.
Another underrated bull market sign comes not from price or volume but from what builders start shipping.
In deep bear markets, most developer attention is on infrastructure, such as bridges, L2s, staking layers, restaking, and zk tooling. It’s quiet, low-level, and necessary — but not user-facing.
However, once momentum begins to shift, so does builder attention. That’s when you start seeing consumer-facing launches: wallets, games, social apps, NFT tools, interfaces. Not just infrastructure but also UX.
Here’s the scenario you want to catch:
In Q3 2023, after months of infra-heavy dev work, the ecosystem suddenly saw launches like friend.tech, Stars Arena, and a wave of wallet-based social tools. At the same time, frontend push updates increased across Base and Avalanche projects. While token prices were still flat, these apps were being built for volume.
That same month, Base TVL increased by over 30%, and daily active users began to climb. Within weeks, token activity followed.
To track it, look at GitHub dashboards on Token Terminal, dev count data in the Electric Capital Developer Report, and launch announcements on DappRadar (Games / Social tabs) or CryptoRank. You’ll start to see the pivot.
Another subtle but telling bull market sign is a spike in the usage of wrapped tokens, like wETH, wSOL, or wAVAX.
You don’t wrap tokens unless you’re planning to use them. Wrapped assets are mostly used inside DeFi protocols, be that for trading on DEXs, providing liquidity, or lending. So when wrapping activity increases, it signals a preparation phase.
Here’s what to look for:
This pattern tells you users are getting ready to deploy.
In April 2024, wETH transfer volume on Arbitrum rose by over 40% week-over-week, while ETH price hovered around $3,300. At the same time, protocols like Camelot and Radiant showed a sharp increase in LP deposits and loan activity, all denominated in wETH.
One week later, ETH broke past $3,700 and Arbitrum ecosystem tokens like ARB and RDNT rallied alongside rising DEX volume.
You can track this on Artemis.xyz by monitoring daily transactions and transacting user count for wETH or the chain’s wrapped gas token. A consistent uptick in activity, without price movement, usually means smart capital is preparing to deploy.
When wrapped token activity rises before the price does, it shows capital is moving into position. That’s one of the cleanest signals that a crypto bull market is warming up under the surface.
One of the cleanest early bull market signs is when liquidity quietly deepens on DEXs, even before prices move. It usually starts with core trading pools like wETH/USDC, ARB/wETH, or OP/USDC gradually filling back up.
In this scenario, LPs are adding capital, but price and trading volume are still flat. This isn’t yield hunting. Rather, it’s smart money preparing for volume before it shows up.
Here’s the nuance. If capital is returning to wETH/USDC, that’s a broad market signal. It means that liquidity providers are expecting movement across the ETH ecosystem, not just in one token.
However, if liquidity is ramping up in a specific pair like ARB/wETH, that’s a more targeted signal — likely tied to expectations around that token or its chain.
The pattern to watch:
In February 2024, Camelot on Arbitrum saw TVL in its ARB/wETH pool grow from $36M to $44M in five days, with ARB still flat at ~$1.78 — just LPs stepping in early. Ten days later, ARB broke $2.00, and volume exploded, without any major news or accompanying campaign.
You should track this. Go to DeFiLlama’s Protocol tab, pick a chain like Arbitrum or Base, and check if TVL is rising in key pools even when the price isn’t.
If wETH/USDC depth is growing, it’s a sign that the broader market is warming up. If project-specific pairs are growing, it means someone expects that token to move.
Most people treat token unlocks as bearish, and usually, they are. New supply hits the market, early holders dump, and the price dips. That’s the default.
It gets interesting when the market absorbs an unlock without flinching, or the event even pushes price up. That’s a sign of real strength, and one more common in early bull markets.
Here’s the signal: If a token with a major unlock sees little to no price dip, or even a price increase shortly after, it means demand is outpacing supply.
Buyers are stepping in and liquidity is soaking up the release. This happens when capital is confident, engaged, and hungry.
In March 2024, Aptos (APT) had a scheduled unlock of over 24 million tokens (~$400M). The unlock was public, expected to create sell pressure.
But price barely dipped — from $10.50 to $10.20 — and within 48 hours, it rebounded to $11.10.
Trading volume spiked, and APT outperformed most L1 tokens that week.
You should track this. Check token unlock calendars like TokenUnlocks.app, look at historical unlock events, and compare them to price and volume behavior in the following 24–72 hours.
If a token can handle a large unlock without flinching — especially if price goes up — that’s demand you don’t ignore.
Token Unlocks Diary 🔒I have gathered here most of the genesis agents unlock periods so you don't have to. Check it out 👇 pic.twitter.com/IsTMa86bH5
— Dinio ♠️ (@dinio00) June 9, 2025
One of the last but most reliable bull market signs is when on-chain activity quietly rises, but search interest and social chatter stay low. In other words, usage is up, but no one’s talking about it yet.
No spike in Google Trends or trending tokens. Not even any influencer threads. Just real users showing up while retail is still distracted. This disconnect is a setup phase.
In April 2024, daily active wallets on Blast crossed 200K for the first time, and new contract deployments spiked across its gaming ecosystem. But Google search interest for “Blast” and related tokens like $PAC and $YOLO remained near baseline, barely moving.
Two weeks later, Blast-related tokens trended on X, PAC doubled in price, and the narrative hit mainstream. But the signal — on-chain usage outpacing awareness — was already there.
You can also track this. Use DappRadar, Artemis, or Chain-specific explorers to monitor daily active wallets, new contract deployments, and transaction counts.
Then cross-check with Google Trends, Twitter/X chatter, or Telegram activity. If usage is up but search volume is flat, that’s not a coincidence — it’s likely early accumulation before attention floods in.
Some signals get louder the more people believe in them, but louder doesn’t mean smarter. These are the signs many retail traders still follow to try and “confirm” a crypto bull market. But in reality, they’ve become reaction indicators, not early bull market signs. Here’s why they don’t hold up — and where they’ve recently failed.
ETF hype used to be front-run-worthy. Now it lags.
In January 2024, the Bitcoin spot ETF approvals led to billions in inflows, but Bitcoin had already run from $16.5K to $47K by the time they launched.
When the actual ETFs went live, BTC dropped to $39K in the following weeks. The inflows didn’t mark the beginning — they marked the short-term top.
Why it misleads: ETF data reflects interest that’s already been priced in. It tells you what institutions just bought, not what they’re about to buy.
If a token is trending, it’s usually too late.
In October 2023, meme coins like $PEPE and $TURBO trended for days on X with huge social engagement. But both had already done 4–6x runs, and once they trended, volume topped out and prices collapsed within a week.
Why it misleads: Social trends don’t indicate momentum — they reflect retail awareness. By the time it’s trending, smart money is offloading into the hype.
High volume can signal activity, but not direction.
In August 2023, $APT saw a massive CEX volume spike after a 20% move, only to reverse 18% within 48 hours. Volume came from short-term speculation, not directional accumulation.
Why it misleads: Spikes in centralized exchange volume often follow price, not lead it. And in bull markets, the real inflows happen through bridges, DEXs, and on-chain deployments, long before the CEX volume catches up.
These signals aren’t useless, they’re just late. They confirm momentum after it’s started. So, if you’re trying to catch the early signs of a crypto bull run, they’ll leave you chasing green candles.
The real signals — stablecoin flows, bridge activity, DEX liquidity, and the rest — are on-chain, behavioral, and quiet.
Yes — if you know what to look for. The earliest bull market signs don’t show up in headlines. As demonstrated throughout this guide, they show up in liquidity flows, on-chain behavior, and how capital moves before attention does. Ignore the noise and watch the setups. The real crypto bull run doesn’t start when prices pump; it starts well before that, when smart money stops waiting.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Always do your own research (DYOR).
Typically between two and four weeks. In many cases, liquidity moves or user behavior shifts well before any price action or narrative kicks in. That’s why these signs are so powerful, as they offer a time edge.
Some signals, like stablecoin inflows or wrapped token usage, can reflect a general crypto market recovery. Others, like LP depth in an ARB/wETH pool, are ecosystem-specific bull market indicators.
It’s harder than you’d think to fake a bull market signal. On-chain metrics (e.g., wallet activity, bridge volume) are transparent and much harder to spoof at scale. They offer more credibility than social sentiment or influencer narratives.
One signal can be noise. Two or more in sync — like rising DEX liquidity and stablecoin holding — increases confidence. Think of them as converging threads of intent, not isolated green flags.
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.