This isn't a must, even if you don't own bitcoins before the bullish cycle, you can still start accumulating Bitcoin from wherever you joined using one or more of the accumulation strategies like lump sum, DCA and buying the dip.

Luckily we're at a dip now and any investor that uses now as their entry point is at a gain because the dip has presented him the opportunity to purchase more stashes of Bitcoin at a cheaper price. Be sure to purchase Bitcoin with your discretionary income

Bitcoin is aimed at the long-term, and not just a short-term or quick profits activity, it's important you build your backup funds like emergency fund and various variances of backup funds so you'll not have to tamper your holdings before maturity.