Experts say bitcoin is extending the same old uneventful humdrum of recent weeks, trapped in a narrowing price range while awaiting the next bullish catalyst.
Over the last 24 hours, bitcoin’s price slumped to as low as $32,000 before buyers drove prices to an Asia intraday high of around $33,319. It is currently changing hands at $32,900, CoinDesk data shows.
On Thursday, bitcoin broke below initial support at $34,000 as regulatory concerns resurfaced, with China’s central bank having issued a warning about stablecoin risk.
Prices, though, are still well within a holding pattern that has kept them locked between tightening support and resistance levels.
“I’m watching Coin Days Destroyed (CDD) continue to plummet, and whale wallets slowly accumulate while bitcoin trades in a bound range,” BCB Group CEO Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie told CoinDesk via Telegram.
CDD is Glassnode’s metric measuring economic activity that affords more weight to coins that have not been spent in a long time. The metric is calculated by taking the total number of coins in a given transaction and then multiplying that number by the total number of days developed since those coins were last spent.
“CDD weakens resistance, whale wallet accumulation strengthens support,” Landsberg-Sadie said, referring to holders of large amounts of crypto. “Any real good news will be the tipping point for a breakout that returns to the long-term upward trend.”
Indeed, the daily chart for bitcoin shows prices have been caught between $36,000 and $31,000 since at least June 21. Meantime, volume among most exchanges, including in regions where large transactions take place, has slumped.
“We have a long way to go to catch up with the Stock to Flow projections,” said Landsberg-Sadie, referring to a model that suggests bitcoin’s price should presently be sitting around $77,900.
How long that will take is anyone’s guess.
“Volumes are still quite thin across most major exchanges,” Blockstream CSO Samson Mow told CoinDesk. “We’ve seen it bounce back quickly each time so I’d expect more of the same until we see some major news pushing us higher.”
Most of the other notable cryptos in the top 20 by market value are also down slightly, with ethereum classic (ETC) and internet computer (ICP) the hardest hit over a 24-hour period.
Equity markets in Asia are mixed, with a 50-50 split up or down of about 1% or less.