What is a bull run?
In one line: A bull run is a long stretch when prices in a market keep rising, with higher highs and higher lows, often lasting months or years.
What it looks like
On a chart, a bull run is an uptrend that keeps going. Price makes a new high. It dips, but the dip stops above the last low. Then it climbs to another new high. That's the pattern of higher highs and higher lows, repeated for a long time.
Picture a weekly bitcoin chart where each pullback stops higher than the one before. Or a stock index that sets record after record for a year. Both are bull runs.
The phrase comes from "bull market." Bulls attack by thrusting their horns up, so "bullish" means rising. More in Bull and bear market.
Why it matters
Bull runs change how a market behaves. Dips get bought. News gets read in a hopeful way. In crypto, people often talk about a bull run in cycles, sometimes linked to the Bitcoin halving. That link is a popular story, not a law. Past cycles don't promise the next one. See crypto market cycles.
For a trader, the useful part is the structure. While the higher lows hold, the Trend is up. When price closes below the last higher low, the run may be ending. Our higher highs and higher lows guide shows how to mark them.
A common mistake
Buying bigger because "it only goes up." Late in a run, prices have climbed far from the last turning point. A sensible Stop loss sits far away, so the right Position size is smaller, not bigger. People often do the opposite and size up from excitement.
No bull run lasts forever, and the end is rarely clear until after. Every trade still needs a stop, and losses are still possible.
The position size calculator keeps size tied to the stop, whatever the mood.
Questions
How long does a bull run last?
There's no set length. Some last months, others years. Nobody knows the end date in advance.
What's the difference between a bull run and a bull market?
They mean nearly the same thing. "Bull run" is more casual and is used a lot in crypto.
How do you know a bull run is over?
You don't know for sure in real time. A common clue is price closing below its last higher low, then failing to make a new high.
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