I do not intend to create a FUD, nor I want to speculate. This is my logical analysis and you are welcome to question it.
The last surge in December 2017 was when mainstream media started covering Bitcoin and a "lot" of new investors/traders/oppertunist started talking about and started looking into it
October 2018 ICOs have failed, most of the ALTs are below their ICO price. That means, Now there are less Fool and people have started understanding the concept. no more Sheeps to slaughter ... Much harder to manipulate price (or atleast people are aware of it.
So, Where will the bull run come from?
As an example, Think like --- Lots of people were hodling when Bitcoin touched 20K.... But now repent doing so... 100% if Bitcoin price surges to even 9000$, they will dump knowing there will be again a correction.
This is what I analysed logically. I may be wrong. I hope I am wrong.
The "easy" gains are gone, definitely. You might still be able to find them in altcoins but you'll have a lot of losers for each 1000x winner.
There will be another bull market but will be driven by usage and engagement by users which requires not just infrastructure for blockchain to build out and mature but to have killer apps that operate on them. Will there be an ETF bump? Yes, but I'm not sure how sustainable that bump will be. I think best to use the old saying, "Buy the rumor, sell the news." So build a position now and see how it does when a real ETF actually gets approved (at least 2019 if not later).