Cointelegraph Consulting: Dormant Bitcoin on the move as price volatility rises

Published at: Dec. 29, 2020

In a period filled with holidays, the cryptocurrency industry refused to take a day off. Strong market performances from Bitcoin (BTC) and some other high profile alt-coins like Ether (ETH,) was offset by the legal action against Ripple by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. In response, a number of prominent trading platforms, including Coinbase, Crypto.com, and FalconX responded by halting trading or deposits of the XRP token.

The latest findings by Santiment, published in Cointelegraph Consulting’s biweekly newsletter, indicate that the balance of wallets holding dormant BTC over a 365-day period has become more active. Between December 13 and 20, more than 146,620 BTC (~$3.9 billion at the time of writing) that fit this description moved on the blockchain, marking its highest weekly volume since July 2019.

These long-term investors tend to trade based on extensive analysis or intimate market knowledge, which is why intense spikes in dormant Bitcoin tend to be more indicative of larger shifts in market conditions and interim price volatility.

Still, with Coinbase’s high-profile IPO right around the corner, and institutional buying is high, so it’s not unreasonable to expect conditions to remain positive going into 2021. Many investors were considering the possibility of a “Christmas Dump” as $2.3 billion in Bitcoin options contracts were set to expire, the largest ever in a single day. With that event in the rear-view mirror, many investors are now optimistic that the momentum of 2020 will continue into the new year.

Read the full newsletter edition here for more news and signals, complete with detailed charts and images.

Cointelegraph’s Market Insights Newsletter shares our knowledge on the fundamentals that move the digital asset market. With market intelligence from one of the industry’s leading analytics providers, Santiment, the newsletter dives into the latest data on social media sentiment, on-chain metrics, and derivatives.

We also review the industry’s most important news, including mergers and acquisitions, changes in the regulatory landscape, and enterprise blockchain integrations. Sign up now to be the first to receive these insights. All past editions of Market Insights are also available on Cointelegraph.com.

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