'Everyone' thinks that we can't get another full bull run before Bitcoin hits 20k. I think this is a bit ridiculous, but at this point...
Perception is Reality.
When bitcoin gets back into the 13k+ range we should be playing very close attention to the rest of the market. If the market does what it did in the summer Bitcoin will go up and a few choice top coins will gain some value as well. Coins like Steem gained practically nothing but still crashed durning the corrections.
I don't really think this is going to happen again, but if it does, it's giving us a very big signal for free money.
Free money? How?
If lower market cap coins do badly during the run up to 13k, 14k, 15k, 16k, etc. it likely points to an incoming altcoin frenzy when Bitcoin actually does reach an all time high. I imagine such a frenzy would be incredibly swift and result in a huge correction shortly after the fact.
Counting on the market to be greedy.
Bitcoin dominance is very high, and the higher it stays the more we know it can affect the rest of the market with a flick of the wrist. For example: Bitcoin's market cap is currently 3250 times bigger than Steem. There is a lot of money in Bitcoin that isn't going to want to exit until value gets to the 20k-60k range. The longer that value waits to pump the rest of the market, the more volatile the market will become.
Conclusion
Sometimes the perception of the market becomes reality. This new reality creates volatility, not because crypto is volatile, but because the new reality created is a false one; a shared delusion. It disappears like a puff of smoke and the market comes crashing back to the real world.
The idea that we won't have an altcoin bull run until bitcoin reaches all time highs is one we should take very seriously. There could be a lot of free money on the table for us to scoop up in as little as 3 months.
Conclusion conclusion
If we see a spike in the altcoin market when Bitcoin hits 20k we should anticipate a correction due to an irrational market powered by unit bias and all time high selloffs. The last time altcoins had real money pumped into them was after Bitcoin went x20 in a year (not x3 in 3 months).
We need to remember when Bitcoin was at this $1000 level it was already near the ATH. Value increased x20 AFTER that ATH moment before everything was fully bubbled. By this same metric using a base value of $6000 for Bitcoin, we would expect a run up to $120,000 in order for Bitcoin to be fully bubbled and ready to pop. Double that number if you expect it to happen a year from now.