Bitcoin has seen a resurgence this month, but is the crypto winter really thawing?

[midian182]

In brief: Is the crypto winter showing signs of ending? Despite most token prices being nowhere near what they were at the start of last year and many businesses laying off workers, Bitcoin has seen a slight resurgence since the beginning of 2023, reaching its highest level since November.

Bitcoin finally passed the $20,000 mark over the weekend, having languished below that milestone since the start of November. BTC is currently at $21,161, and while that's around $20,000 less than it was 12 months earlier and far from the near-$69,000 all-time high, it's still a positive sign for investors who have endured crypto's most difficult year to date.

Bitcoin's price over the last 12 months

Last year's crypto winter kicked off when TerraUSD collapsed in May and was exacerbated by the implosion of exchange FTX. In addition to the falling prices of digital assets, including NFTs, last year saw lawsuits, bankruptcies, and thousands of job losses across the industry.

Some analysts fear things could get worse in 2023, with predictions of Bitcoin falling to $10,000 or even $5,000. Others have a more positive outlook, believing BTC will rebound this year to $50,000. One very optimistic venture capitalist thinks it will reach $250,000, which would represent an increase of around 1,400%.

With Bitcoin on the way up, it's starting to look like the naysayers could be proved wrong. CNBC reports that analysts are putting the rebound down to a couple of main factors, the first being the likelihood of central banks easing the pace of interest rate rises, or even cutting rates, as inflation cools—the consumer price index decreased 0.1% in December.

The other significant factor is said to be the 'whales,' those who purchase large quantities of BTC: just 97 wallet addresses control 14.15% of all Bitcoin. Crypto data firm Kaiko writes that the recent increase in the average trade size indicates renewed faith in the market by whales.

Another influence is said to be the halving—an event that occurs every four years in which the reward for Bitcoin mining is cut in half. This is expected to push up BTC's price, and while the next halving doesn't happen until 2024, it's already breeding more confidence in the future among investors.

The reality, of course, is that Bitcoin's price is unpredictable. Any resurgence is good news for buyers and sellers, there are plenty of positive signs, and we do seem to be past the worst of the crypto winter, but things can change very quickly in the cryptocurrency world.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/97284-bitcoin-has-seen-resurgence-month-but-crypto-winter.html

 

[emmzo]

Bitcoin is invaluable, it doesn't have any value and that's why it has infinite value. Even if you bought it at 69k, don't worry, it's going to be worth millions, what am I saying, billions. You'd just have to wait a million years, but yeah. In the meantime, throw your wealth away, you're better off without it in a coming recession. Or not, the institutions will do it for you.

 

[PEnnn]

This thing is like herpes. Just go away and die already!!

 

[christiangeli]

Elon Musk crypto scam hitting all over internet …

 

[m4a4]

Oh look, the economy is doing a bit better, and so is this "investment".

Not a surprise to anyone rational.

 

[emmzo]

Oh look, the economy is doing a bit better, and so is this "investment".

Not a surprise to anyone rational.

Inflation eased by 0.1%. Omfg, full bull market, everyone is buying like crazy. The degeneracy in this space has hit a new high.

 

[Kashim]

A fool and his money are soon parted.

 

[Lounds]

Bitcoin is a currency for the black market and organised crime to hide their wealth from governments. How many people really use bitcoin day to day? No one I know.

 

[wiyosaya]

Life is like a box of chocolates...

Forrest Gump

 

[Eflow]

Where are all the BC holders who told me I was dumb for putting money into my traditional 401k when BC was at $65k? They're busy praying for another "pump" so they can exit before the next "dump", no doubt.

 

[cbads]

Except the price of Bitcoin is not entirely unpredictable- and neither was this rally. This is because Bitcoin does actually have a cost of production based on the average price of electricity which is consumed in the process of "mining". It is approximately $17,880 USD currently and rising. In addition Bitcoin had been technically oversold since the FTX collapse, this correction is mostly just the market correcting. At the very least it was foreseeable that the downside risk to Bitcoin and Ethereum late December was very limited due to anticipated reductions in rate increases and market optimism before the next halving. I'd predict we trade sideways from now until March as the market begins to anticipate the feds reversal on tightening.

 

[tkabou]

As Jim Rickards recently said when asked what he expects of BTC in the future: it’s going to hang around for a few months before eventually going to zero.

Anything created in this world has a designer or company backing it, we know the address of that company, we know the history, we know virtually anything about the product. With Bitcoin, it’s completely shrouded in secrecy, hidden behind a pseudonym for a developer. Anything, that’s shrouded in secrecy, is for NEFARIOUS purposes.

How’s the world supposed to believe the “Messiah” of currencies when we don’t know anything about it, let alone understand how it works, and supposedly the solving of cryptographic equations bestows enormous wealth upon the solver of them. Now virtual wealth is supposedly equal to a cryptographic equation, where’s that put gold and silver? Barbarous relics? The psyop!

 

[Endymio]

How’s the world supposed to believe the “Messiah” of currencies when we don’t know anything about it, let alone understand how it works

You may not understand how Bitcoin works, but plenty of other people do ... anyone willing to spend the time to learn, in fact. Despite its other flaws (of which Bitcoin admittedly has many), it's undeniably a far more transparent system than the US Federal Reserve, nor any other fiat currency.

 

[cbads]

As Jim Rickards recently said when asked what he expects of BTC in the future: it’s going to hang around for a few months before eventually going to zero.

Anything created in this world has a designer or company backing it, we know the address of that company, we know the history, we know virtually anything about the product. With Bitcoin, it’s completely shrouded in secrecy, hidden behind a pseudonym for a developer. Anything, that’s shrouded in secrecy, is for NEFARIOUS purposes.

How’s the world supposed to believe the “Messiah” of currencies when we don’t know anything about it, let alone understand how it works, and supposedly the solving of cryptographic equations bestows enormous wealth upon the solver of them. Now virtual wealth is supposedly equal to a cryptographic equation, where’s that put gold and silver? Barbarous relics? The psyop!

Bitcoin is complicated. It's okay if its not within your circle of competence. However, it's not entirely understandable. Probably the single best resource if you're interested in learning about blockchain, Bitcoin, and its future uses is the Ethereum White Paper. I highly recommend reading even if you're a committed skeptic.

 

[emmzo]

Except the price of Bitcoin is not entirely unpredictable- and neither was this rally. This is because Bitcoin does actually have a cost of production based on the average price of electricity which is consumed in the process of "mining". It is approximately $17,880 USD currently and rising. In addition Bitcoin had been technically oversold since the FTX collapse, this correction is mostly just the market correcting. At the very least it was foreseeable that the downside risk to Bitcoin and Ethereum late December was very limited due to anticipated reductions in rate increases and market optimism before the next halving. I'd predict we trade sideways from now until March as the market begins to anticipate the feds reversal on tightening.

Good luck with the FED easing rates. Btw, funny thing is, Bitcoin was created to deal with recession, but oopsie, it can't. Whatever bullsh1t white paper it was, it became so controlled and entangled by the traditional market, its only function is speculation.

 

[Endymio]

Btw, funny thing is, Bitcoin was created to deal with recession, but oopsie, it can't.

Congratulations,; you have it almost entirely backwards. As much as Bitcoin was created to "deal with" any one event, it was intended to be immune to a hyperinflationary spiral: the bane of all fiat currencies.

 

[emmzo]

Congratulations,; you have it almost entirely backwards. As much as Bitcoin was created to "deal with" any one event, it was intended to be immune to a hyperinflationary spiral: the bane of all fiat currencies.

I know about that, but also it was said it would work outside the traditional finance market, but it seems it's dependent on it.

 

[Hotlynx16]

"Bitcoin has seen a slight resurgence since the beginning of 2023, reaching its highest level since November." Yes this might be because of Canada and the us government having to pay off ransomware in the recent airline control attacks that they claimed were software glitches!!

 

[cbads]

Bitcoin was created as an alternative to the compounded long term risks of centralized fiat currency, not to be recession proof. I totally understand the public mistrust of crypto because of the crypto bro bitcoin maximalist crowd, but when people say things like "the funny thing is Bitcoin is supposed to be recession proof" when it's clearly always had a market cycle correlated with its halving cycle- that just sounds like when people were struggling to understand what this internet thing is that people keep talking bout.