Markets Slide as Speculators Prepare for December

It seemed like an eternity, but November has finally concluded, thus ending the worse month in the past seven years for Bitcoin. After November woes typically comes an exciting December. Last year, after dipping to local lows in November of US$6,000, Bitcoin saw an explosive rally to its all-time high of $20,000 the following month. Will the holidays bring joy to crypto markets this year?

Yesterday, moon calls were spread as December had surely began with a bang. Bitcoin had shot up from a slump at US$3,900 to $4,300. The $4,300 mark proved to be a point of resistance, as the leading cryptocurrency flirted with that price throughout the day before inevitably falling back into the $4,100 range.

Today, Bitcoin has brushed against the $4,200 mark on multiple occasions before falling to $4,100. Day-on-day, BTC is sitting at a slight 24 hour loss of about 1.8% at time of writing. With the exception of Bitcoin SV, which has seen 6% appreciation versus USD in the past day, other members of the top 10 by market cap have similarly seen small losses from 0.5% (Bitcoin Cash, Tether) to 4% (EOS).The slight loss by top currencies is mirrored further down the list. Most of the market is sitting at single-digit losses on the day.

In contrast, there are a few projects with explosive growth. New to the market, Coinbit’s DEX token is up an impressive 60%, adding to a successful November where the coin saw a five times price increase. DEX is a rewards token for traders on the members-only Korean exchange. It’s currently rank 71 on CoinMarketCap with a US$59 million market cap. DEX’s daily growth is accompanied by Centrality (+34%) and Mithril (+24%).

As we know all too well, slow days like today are typically followed by sharp movement across the board. History would suggest that December will prove to be prosperous for crypto, although history has deceived us before: past bear markets and subsequent redirects would have suggested that Bitcoin would have rebounded from US$6,000, rather than dove all the way to lows around $3,600 days ago.

At a US$14 billion daily volume across all markets thus far in December, trading volume has dipped somewhat from local highs of $20-25 billion in November. However, the current volume is nothing to scoff at. $14 billion represents a larger figure than what was seen throughout most of June-October of this year, and with Bitcoin down 80% from last year’s highs, the velocity of trading is actually greater than what we saw at highs last year. In other words, Bitcoin and altcoins are trading hands at a faster rate than what was seen in last year’s bull market.

Fortunately for holders, market fundamentals seem to be on their side. This velocity suggests increasing participation in the markets, and the delay of Bakkt because of “too many customers lining up” to play means that a lot more players are patiently awaiting their chance to get in, too. In addition to Coinbase’s recent over-the-counter trading launch, and NASDAQ’s upcoming Bitcoin futures release, it’s very possible that the next wave of investment hits the markets either this month or next.