Why BitMEX CEO believes the bitcoin bull market is just starting

Arthur Hayes, the CEO of BitMEX, the most widely utilized margin trading platform for crypto assets such as bitcoin and Ethereum, has said that the bitcoin bull market is real.

The optimism towards the price trend of bitcoin from Hayes follows a powerful recovery demonstrated by the dominant cryptocurrency in the past week in which the asset rebounded from $6,400 to $8,000 in less than three days.

As previously reported by CryptoSlate, triggered by the sell-off of 5,000 BTC on Bitstamp, many bitcoin contracts on BitMEX were liquidated on May 17, because of the heavy dependence of BitMEX's feed on Bitstamp.

The bitcoin price briefly plummeted to $6,400, recording an 18 percent drop in value overnight.

In a span of merely 72 hours, the market absorbed the unforeseen drop in the bitcoin price on Friday, leading to the strong recovery of bitcoin.

As the bitcon price surpassed the $8,000 mark once again, major crypto assets in the likes of Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, Litecoin, and BNB recorded gains in the range of 10 to 20 percent against the U.S. dollar.

The immediate recovery of bitcoin from an unexpected 18 percent drop in less than three days indicates that the sentiment around the crypto market is currently highly positive and that investors may be overwhelming the bears.

"Hell of a bullish weekly close on bitcoin with near record-breaking volume, solidifying the strength and validity of this rally. BTC / USD is full of bulls."

Industry executives including Barry Silbert have started to express optimism towards the current trend of crypto assets, stating that the recent rally of bitcoin is fundamentally different to that seen in late 2017.

While the 2017 bull run of the crypto market was triggered by booming retail interest, Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert stated that 2019 rally has been catalyzed by the noticeable improvement in institutionalization and the infrastructure supporting the asset class.