Bitcoin price flatlines as XRP hits $1 with 'massive' altcoin move set for 2022

Bitcoin (BTC) stuck rigidly to its tight range on Dec. 23 as price action continued to contradict strong buying activity.

Hodlers busy accumulating

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD failing to hold $49,000 after hitting ten-day highs.

The pair remained stuck in a trading zone only around $4,000 wide, a key factor fuelling bets that a "short squeeze" would hit over the holiday period.

Against declining volatility, data reinforced conviction among investors, with the supply being bought up at roughly three times the rate of new BTC being mined.

"Strong handed HODLers are absorbing supply at more than triple the rate of new coins being mined each day," on-chain analytics firm Glassnode summarized in the latest edition of its weekly newsletter, The Week Onchain.

Glassnode additionally noted that at a spot price of $47,000, over one quarter of the BTC supply was underwater compared to when it last moved.

As Cointelegraph reported, the likelihood of a squeeze up or down on BTC/USD will likely increase over the new year as decreased activity thins out liquidity and allows for volatility to enter more easily.

#BTC Update ✅#Bitcoin bounced 8% $46k re-entry after selling $52k & back up to $50k Throwback and S&R flip likely from here. Only a breakout above $50k would be the significant breakout and LONG entry #midterm in case u missed this bounce (downtrend breakout) pic.twitter.com/eKICOZLza6

Among traders, $50,000 remained the point to watch for resumption of a more bullish stance.

"Santa rally" comes to XRP as altcoins simmer

Among altcoins, Wednesday's exuberance was waning, with only two of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap still in the green on daily timeframes at the time of writing.

Related: Price analysis 12/22: BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, ADA, XRP, LUNA, AVAX, DOT, DOGE

The standout was XRP, which maintained weekly gains of over 18% to return to $1 for the first time since the start of December. Ether (ETH) was back below $4,000.

For Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, however, signs were flowing in that a new year's rebound made buying this week a solid strategy.

"More and more weekly charts are shaping up beautifully on the altcoins," he told Twitter followers.