Crypto Winter Is Here? Bitcoin Treads Trading Range Bottom After Crash

Bitcoin price (BTC) hovered near widely-predicted support levels on Oct. 24 after a day of carnage sent markets tumbling to five-month lows.

Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360

Bitcoin battles fresh Congressional criticism

Data from Coin360 showed Bitcoin stabilizing on Thursday following its sudden downturn a day previously, during which BTC/USD lost $500 in just five minutes.

Bitcoin seven-day price chart. Source: Coin360

As Cointelegraph reported, the losses had long been anticipated, with analysts almost exactly predicting the floor lying at Bitcoin’s 200-day moving average — approximately $7,400.

The bottom in fact came at $7,360, while attention now focuses on Bitcoin’s next move. A major factor potentially exerting pressure on price is governmental scrutiny of Libra, Facebook’s proposed digital currency. 

This week, the United States Congress again grilled CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a public hearing, during which Bitcoin also came in for criticism. 

Beyond external factors, meanwhile, price decreases could test a technical theory focusing on Bitcoin miners. According to some calculations, current miner profitability demands a Bitcoin price of at least $6,500. 

Participation could drop — though likely temporarily due to the self-adjusting difficulty algorithm — if BTC/USD falls lower, as it did during the pit of the bear market in December 2018. Nevertheless, investment in mining infrastructure suggests that regardless of price performance, miners are bullish about the future.

Altcoin markets enter an uneasy pause

Altcoins meanwhile continued to see red as Bitcoin showed little sign of recovery. Having fallen around 8% during the dip, the top ten cryptocurrencies then lingered at lower levels.

Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin by market cap, nonetheless staved off heavier losses, dropping 3.5% to trade at $161 on Thursday.

Ether seven-day price chart. Source: Coin360

Others fared worse, notably Binance Coin (BNB), which shed 8% to land at $16.50. 

The overall cryptocurrency market cap was $204 billion at press time, with Bitcoin improving its share marginally to 66%.