Bitcoin’s Push to Retake $5,000: A New Trend or ‘Nothing Special?’

Currently, experts are dubbing yesterday’s impressive price surge a mystery, as the exact reason behind the move remains uncertain. That being said, according to Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, founder and CEO of London-based financial services company BCB group, the surge may have been caused by an algorithmic order of ~20,000 BTC distributed over a variety of major exchanges — likely activated after Bitcoin broke through it’s year-long $4,200 resistance point. In light of the recent price changes, the current market sentiment could be tracked by looking at an indicator such as the Exponential Moving Average (EMA) to show how the average price has changed over time. As it stands, there appears to be no negative volume movement. As per our previous technical analysis, Bitcoin appears to have found new support, with the bottom now set at ~$4,200. When it comes to traditional stocks and mutual funds, any asset yielding above 20 percent is considered a risky investment and is categorized accordingly. The cryptocurrency markets, however, are much smaller and driven primarily by user and investor sentiment. Even unremarkable incidents where a large amount of any crypto is bought or sold could have a ripple effect across all other cryptocurrency markets. In this case, Bitcoin (BTC) was one of the first major coins to move, while almost all other markets followed shortly after. It may also be argued that altcoin rallies led to the price surge for the market leader. On one hand, experienced crypto traders and enthusiasts are eager to see the return of the kind of market witnessed in 2017 — where Bitcoin soared, growing more than 1,500 percent without significantly breaking stride. On the other hand, such price volatility is the very reason why the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to delay any Bitcoin or crypto related Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) product. For many fundamentalists, it is still a debate whether more emphasis should be placed on Bitcoin’s current previous relative price stability, or to its wild bull runs seen in 2012, 2017 and now possibly 2019. If Bloomberg is to be believed, the current surge is not convincingly bullish, arguing that the spike was likely caused by big orders from a small number of players. Jehan Chu, managing partner at Kenetic Capital states that market is “still very much subject to waves of enthusiasm” and that the surge is nothing out of the ordinary. That being said, Bitcoin has been defined by price swings much wilder than the 20 percent growth seen yesterday. In 2018 alone, BTC experienced several rallies where more than 20 percent was gained. However, few were as sharp and as fast as the one seen most recently. Could this be the cusp of the next bull run? Only time will tell. What is your opinion on Bitcoin’s recently price volatility? Could this be the start of a new uptrend, or just a temporary break? Let us know in the comments below!