Bitcoin: Ups and Downs
The cryptocurrency market was even more volatile than usual last week amid geopolitical tensions. Last Friday, February 18, Bitcoin plunged below $40.000. The news provoked a sudden drop during the entire week. As a result, on Thursday morning, February 24, after the announcement of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, quotes plummeted below $34.500, registering a local minimum of this year. However, the value of the first cryptocurrency has already returned $2.500 by Friday morning and continues to grow. So the total fall for the week was about 5%.
Opinions and Forecasts of International Experts
Despite the general tightness, various forecasts, including optimistic ones, remain heard in the crypto community.
Cryptocurrencies: Safe Haven for Capital
Dan Morehead, founder and CEO of investment firm Pantera Capital, believes that an increase in US interest rates will result in a lower correlation between the stock and crypto markets. This will make cryptocurrencies a more effective way to preserve capital than traditional financial instruments.
Bitcoin and the Freedom to Protest
David Hansson, the creator of web development framework Ruby on Rails, admitted amid protests by Canadian truckers that he was wrong about Bitcoin. The programmer noted that he had been hasty in completely dismissing the cryptocurrency, which turned out to offer “the fundamental freedom to transact.”
“Bear Market” Until 2024
There are also less optimistic predictions. Huobi co-founder Du Jun, in an interview with CNBC, has shared his opinion that Bitcoin is currently in the early stages of a bear market. He thinks the decline could continue until the end of 2024. Jun explained that Bitcoin’s bullish movements are directly related to halving, so the next wave of growth should be expected after the next halving.
Crypto Winter Is Coming
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressed a similar opinion. In an interview with Bloomberg, he said that a crypto winter has started in the digital asset market. At the same time, Buterin sees a positive aspect in this situation. The global downtrend contributes to market clearing. By the next wave of growth, there will be only objectively demanded projects aimed at long-term results, with a clear development plan and a reliable team.
Opportunities and Trends in BTC Accumulation
Other market participants also see advantages in a downtrend. For example, Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes at about $13.2 billion, advised his followers on Twitter to buy BTC on the decline and forget about selling it.
Data from analytics company Glassnode shows that this strategy is relevant even without any advice because the wallets of long-term investors already concentrate 76.5% of the total Bitcoin supply. This is a record. Moreover, about 12.6% of all BTC has been stored for more than ten years. These funds are also tied up with long-term holders, but there is a possibility that some of them are lost forever.
Note that this is not all the crypto news over the past week. More updates can be found on our website and social networks daily!
