After coming close to $13,000 last week, Bitcoin suffered another blow to its price, one that took the coin’s USD value down by over $2,000 during the beginning of this week. Yet, that kind of fluctuation was expected as the market saw incredible gains over the past month, probably leading many short-time holders to sell when they saw a right profit-taking opportunity.
According to the Guardian, the latest price decline was likely linked to the fading of interest in Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency. The newspaper concludes that the recent price increases were “galvanized” by the Libra coins, but now that the novelty feeling has started wearing off, it caused the value of the biggest crypto asset to fall and drag other coins along with it.
The newspaper also talked about the price swings to Simon Peters, an analyst at eToro, who believes that “a period of indecision” has started, where the trading market is still trying to decide which direction to take after the big price boosts and subsequent sell-off. At the other end of the spectrum, you have Nouriel Roubini, a US economist and critic of the coin, who believes that BTC will eventually fall down to zero, as many have wrongfully predicted before him.
Massive Interest and Bullish Signals
Over the last week, Bitcoin’s value experienced several swings, falling down from its 2019 record price before climbing up again, falling down, and then recovering once more. The lowest value the coin reached during this time was $9,775.02 on Tuesday afternoon, while the highest price point was hit last Thursday, when the coin climbed to $13,219.80. If you’re wondering why the sudden swings, you only need to look at the 24-h trading volume, which exploded as the price dropped to reach over $44 billion. Currently, the volume is at $32 billion and rising, while Bitcoin’s price and market capitalization are at $11,400 and $203 billion, respectively.
Our technical analysis shows that the market has now become bullish, hinting that sellers have turned to buying once more after the price was taken down. Out of 12 technical oscillators, 9 are pro-buy and sending green signals, with 11 out of 12 moving averages mirroring this trend. Similar signals are also evident on the short-term charts, confirming that the market is starting to change direction. However, Stochastic and Williams %R are already sending “overbought” signals, suggesting that buyers might be getting tired. So, keep your eyes for rapid swings, especially at the start of next week.
2/3 of Coins Haven’t Moved for a Year
Another interesting story we saw this week was The Next Web’s report on BTC traders in 2019. Based on a study by Delphi Digital, an independent research firm, the media portal says that most of the active traders during the last two quarters are actually new. According to the firm’s analysis, the “active portion” of the supply of Bitcoin, i.e. the coins that have been moved in the past quarter, is starting to increase slowly, with most new sellers being in the market only for three to six months.
Delphi Digital’s analysis also concludes that the percentage of people who have bought the coins and are holding onto them without using is growing. Based on the data gathered from the markets, around 60% of the circulating supply of Bitcoin has not moved in a year, at least. Moreover, the percentage of people who haven’t moved coins in the past five years has also increased to over 21.5%, leading the research firm to conclude that most of the active sellers right now are new.