Over the past two years, the crypto market has been on a rollercoaster ride. After ending 2017 with record highs, it saw a downtrend throughout 2018. Overall, the entire year saw a dismal performance for cryptocurrencies, especially when compared to its meteoric gains of the preceding year.

As we enter the New Year, crypto investors are crossing their fingers and hoping that this year would be bullish for blockchain stocks. Some analysts and investors look at legitimate reasons that suggest a good year for the crypto market.

While we’re not expecting to breach the all-time highs achieved in 2017, there are a lot of significant developments that point to a bullish crypto market this year.

So, what are the trends and developments to expect this 2019 for blockchain investing? Let’s take a look at some predicted highlights.

Natural market cycles suggest an upward trend

All markets go through a cycle – and the same is true with the crypto market. While the range and predictability of market cycles differ, they all go through the same phases. Markets go up, hit a peak, go down, and then hit the bottom. They accumulate before they go upswing once more to complete a full market cycle.

Since cryptocurrencies were bearish in 2018, analysts are optimistic that they will begin to accumulate and resurge this year. The falling prices and strengthened fundamentals (reinforced by great developments in blockchain technology) will help push the market into a bull phase. Financial markets all go through a bull/bear cycle which is fueled by investor sentiment.

Institutional responses will be a great catalyst

Some analysts are looking at 2019 to be the year when institutional money will be introduced to the crypto economy. Highly anticipated developments are the possibility of cryptocurrencies finally entering Nasdaq in 2019 and the roll out of Bakkt, a cryptocurrency investment platform that will open the gates for institutional money. If these two go into fruition this year, they’ll definitely be a game changer for the digital currency market.

Increased spending on blockchain technologies

Digital coins did not perform well last year due to a slower than expected blockchain spending by companies. But this trend is about to change as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) noted an increase in spending of companies on blockchain initiates. It hit $1.7 billion last year and is estimated to grow this year.

All-time high in blockchain developmental manpower

According to a senior IT specialist at MorganSystems, an IT Support company from Dallas, many of his colleagues have been working to upgrade their skill-set and credentials by including blockchain development in their resumes. Despite the falling prices, the blockchain job market is on a surge as seen in reports from Glassdoor. The increase in job openings only means that the blockchain technology is up and ever strong, and sees a bright future in it.

Implementation of major blockchain projects will speed up

We expect to see a lot of impressive and innovative projects to have a major update this 2019. For example, the Lightning Network project of Bitcoin is scheduled for full implementation this year. Ethereum is also anticipated to unveil the Constantinople update which aims to improve the scalability of the platform. There are also other top-tier cryptocurrencies that are set to announce major developments with their pet projects.