Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, recently experienced a drop in trading near down over the past hours, after reaching a one-year high over the last Friday. Though, the momentum from multiple spot bitcoin filings by BlackRock and other financial services giants that sent the asset higher dissolved as investors addressed the realities that any SEC approval was months off, if not longer, and that macroeconomic indicators remained uncertain.
While the majority might think the cryptocurrency market is as good as dead in the US, Markus Thielen, the head of research for crypto service provider Matrixport, thinks otherwise. In a Sunday report, Thielen wrote about the historical strength of July with returns of and in the past three years. Therefore, the probability that Bitcoin will be higher during the next days is high. According to Thielen, bitcoin had followed a pattern this year of rising about before falling first after the tumult caused by the U.S banking crisis in March, and then following this month’s SEC lawsuits against crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase.
Matrixport also predicted that bitcoin would reach by year’s end, and Thielen added that BTC’s strongest rallies have occurred during U.S trading hours, a sign that U.S institutions are buying Bitcoin while other regions are less active.
As the market approaches Friday’s expiry of bitcoin options contracts, Bitcoin’s price could increase further or send it spiraling. If bitcoin builds momentum above as expiry approaches, dealers will buy the cryptocurrency in the spot and futures markets, as mentioned by CoinDesk Co-Managing Editor of Markets Omkar Godbole. On the other hand, dealers will be forced to sell on a potential decline below.
Ether, the second-largest crypto in market value, was recently changing hands at off roughly from Sunday’s same time. Arca’s head of research for crypto asset management firm, Katie Talati, mentioned in an interview with CoinDesk TV’s ‘First Mover’ program that a developer proposal to change Ethereum’s maximum validator balance from ETH to over should not have an effect on the price of ETH necessarily, calling the proposal ‘a long shot’.
U.S equity markets started the week on a sour note, with the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite and S&P closing down and respectively. The yield on 10-year U.S Treasurys and safe-haven asset gold ticked upward.
Arca’s Talati was cautiously optimistic about investors’ enthusiasm following the spot bitcoin ETF filings over the past days. She said, “The SEC has taken a very strong anti-crypto stance. The bigger problem is that most people don’t realize that ETF approval is going to be a while away if it happens. But there could be some more pressure on regulators to approve this vehicle just because it is.” In short, it is not yet the time to give up on cryptocurrency, and July might be the turning point for Bitcoin.