Bitcoin's sluggishness

Market picture

Bitcoin is up 2.5% over the past seven days, trading at $19,300 on Monday morning. Ethereum added 0.2%, to $1300. Other leading altcoins in the top 10 have shown mixed dynamics, ranging from an 8% decline (XRP) to a 4% rise (BNB).

Total cryptocurrency market capitalisation, according to CoinMarketCap, rose 0.5% over the week to $930bn. The cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index is at 24 by Monday versus 21 a week earlier.

Bitcoin was able to keep from falling last week despite notable declines in stock indices and a Fed rate hike but lacked the strength to rise. The first cryptocurrency's fluctuation waves are getting smaller and smaller, approaching ripple levels.

In such a lull, significant order volumes tend to pull closer to the price, the triggering of which can break the current trend. The lower boundary of the indecision range remained at $18.8K. However, the upper bound has shifted to 20.3, where several local highs since September 14 and the 50-day moving average are concentrated.

Bitcoin posted a moderate decline (-3.8%) in September, contrasted with a sharp fall of more than 9% in the S&P 500 Index. Unlike the stock index, BTC was able to hold its June lows.

In terms of seasonality, October is considered one of the best months of the year. Bitcoin has ended this month up six times in the last seven years. The average growth over the previous 11 years has been 33%, and the average decline has been 15%.

News background

According to Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, bitcoin's resilience in September is since most sellers have left the crypto market, having sold off their assets.

The ECB has published the first results of its Digital Euro Survey, which suggests that the broadest use of CBDC will be in the retail sector.

German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom launched its Ethereum transaction validation node to support stacking on the second cryptocurrency's network.

Spain's largest telecommunications company Telefonica has allowed customers of its online shop to pay for purchases with digital assets.

BlackRock has applied to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for metaverse-related companies.

About the author

Alex Kuptsikevich is a financial market professional with 16-years’ experience and a senior financial analyst at FxPro. He is the author of daily reviews on the impact of economic events with comments featured in top international and Russian media. Alex covers fundamental analysis, global markets, the foreign exchange market, gold, oil, and cryptocurrencies in his analytical pieces. As the senior financial analyst at FxPro, Alex is a guest expert in 1-tier global media such as Forbes, Coindesk, Euromoney and Morning Star.