BTC Price Up 160% in 2023 — 5 Things to Know in Bitcoin This Week
Bitcoin (BTC) will start the Christmas holidays with a bang as the BTC price challenges support at a crucial time.
The last week of 2023 is already seeing volatility – and in a year where BTC/USD is over 160%, anything can happen.
What can traders expect for the annual closing?
Bitcoin's chart checkpoint is fast approaching, with price action between $40,000 and the current 19-month high of $44,730.
Looking back at the events of the past twelve months, there is much to be proud of for Bitcoin bulls – massive network growth, the recapture of all-time highs for mining difficulty and hash rate, as well as the turnaround in mining profitability.
Benchmarks across the chain have reversed massively into bullish territory, indicating that a new bull market is just beginning.
There are major events on the horizon for all Bitcoin and crypto investors – the United States' first spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) and the decision on the next block subsidy halving.
At this critical point in Bitcoin history, Cointelegraph takes a look at the current state of the market and highlights key topics to focus on in the countdown to the end of the year.
BTC price will drop to $43,000 on Christmas
After days of sideways trading, BTC price action has finally delivered fresh volatility to its weekly close.
A dip in Bitstamp to $42,700 was the result, according to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, before a modest recovery began above the $43,000 mark.
All of this played into the roadmap for a well-known trader and analyst, the credible crypto, who predicts a return to that area before Bitcoin's next leg higher is seen by the end of the week.
A comment section on X (formerly Twitter) said: “Bidding filled, all parameters still amazing, ship it.”
“We're fully prepared for the next leg – hopefully we'll get one more quick slide into the low 43k's to fill a few more bids first.”
Bids filled, all parameters still look amazing, send it. $BTC https://t.co/qs5UITMXNY
— CrediBULL Crypto (@CredibleCrypto) December 24, 2023
CryptoAid, the creator of the cryptocurrency trade group, agrees that current standards should be reversed.
Santa starts unpacking his bags…..if BTC is to be bullish this is where the lightning should shine. If there is no strong incentive, we will go 40k in the next few days.
merry christmas! pic.twitter.com/WL7XwoVhdL
— Ed_NL (@Crypto_Ed_NL) December 24, 2023
$43,000 is the breakout level – which other prominent analysts, notably trader CryptoChase, see as the point at which bulls have run out of steam for an extended period.
Crypto Chase added to the shorts at $43,000 earlier in December, then the upcoming ETF approval should mark the top of the area before the “reality” sets in.
The $BTC scheme
1. 3rd drive to close shorts/play bounce 2. TP Abort 3. A chop happens when a holiday approaches but the market holds because of the ETF approval. ETF approval pump, re-open shorts around here. Liquidity / Reality
* Not drawn to time scale * Approval price may vary pic.twitter.com/qHpG8FmmeS
— Crypto Chase (@Crypto_Chase) December 11, 2023
As reported by Cointelegraph, the idea of ”sell the news” of the approved date has been gaining popularity, including in professional trading organizations.
“For this reason, we expect a possible retracement to the 36k levels before resuming improvement and resistance to the topside of BTC in the 45-48.5k range,” QCP Capital wrote in the latest market update last week.
2023: Bitcoin will return in ancient style
Looking back to 2023, however, there is no doubting how far Bitcoin has come.
Since the year's open, BTC/USD has gained more than 160%, with a 60% gain in Q4 alone, according to data from statistical resource CoinGlass.
It's even posted a 15% gain so far this month — Bitcoin's best December since 2020, though it hasn't repeated above the all-time highs seen at the time.
This renaissance, which comes after a long bear market, has been music to the ears of long-time holders, who have refused to sell BTC, according to Cointelegraph.
While this feature was “just above” price performance for the year, it held upside with only modest consolidations.
“One of the main features of the 2023 market is the surprisingly shallow depth of all price reversals and corrections,” on-chain analyst firm Glassnode wrote in the latest issue of its weekly newsletter in December. 19.
“Historically, periods of bear market recovery and bull market corrections for BTC regularly see returns of at least -25% from the area high, with many examples exceeding -50%. However, the deep correction in 2023 closed below -20% of the area high, providing buying support and general The balance of supply and demand has been good throughout the year.
That “favorable” climate has pushed the entire Bitcoin investor pool back into overall profitability, but as Glassnode notes, that's not enough to echo the wholesale selloff and risk a bullish crash.
Examining the Null Profit/Loss (NUPL) measure, the profitability is currently echoing mid-2019, showing Bitcoin's mid-cycle high.
“Each group's NUPL rating is not yet at exciting heights, but it is comfortably above each group's breakout level,” he summed up.
At $43,000, meanwhile, BTC/USD is 37% below its current high.
Macro markets end a year of price increases
In a typically quiet holiday week, there isn't much to look forward to when it comes to macroeconomic volatility stimulus for risk assets.
US markets will not trade much for the rest of 2023, with unemployment claims due for the year's final demand publication on December 28.
Key events this week:
1. Markets are closed, Merry Christmas! – Monday
2. First unemployment claims – Thursday
3. Pending Home Sales Data – Thursday
4. Crude oil inventory data – Thursday
The markets are wrapping up a busy 2023 with a quiet week.
Happy holidays everyone!
— Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) December 24, 2023
This makes markets cautiously optimistic about a major macro policy change next year. Months of U.S. data have fed the declining inflation narrative with no exceptions.
Now, the Federal Reserve is faced with the question of when to begin raising interest rates — known as a “pivot” — and how quickly.
As reported by Cointelegraph, bets on the timing of the move include the beginning of next month, while the Fed itself played such odds.
Markets are not convinced that officials will cut rates at the next Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, meeting on January 31, according to data from CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
How good are Bitcoin miners?
When it comes to 2023 Bitcoin success stories, nothing can be said about the basics of the network.
The speed and difficulty of hashing has provided a transformation from rags to riches this year, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down in the months to come.
According to the information of monitoring resource BTC.com, the problem of mining in the next adjustment is still more always hitting high, this is not due until the beginning of January. The latest revision added nearly 7% — the fourth largest increase since 2023, taking it to roughly $72 trillion.
As mining becomes more profitable, so does the hash rate, as it deploys more processing power.
By 2023, the average revenue collected by Bitcoin miners from transaction fees is nearly $2,000,000 per day. This has increased by 400% year on year. pic.twitter.com/zZjUwy1Gbh
— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) December 23, 2023
The availability of formal articles significantly increased fee income in the second half of the year – in mid-December, the income from fees reached 37%, according to Glassnode data.
Some analysts argue that miners are trying to halve BTC, which will immediately reduce the reward by 50% for each block.
On-chain analyst Checkmate for Glassnode fronts, but there's a sobering lesson in mining's comeback.
The golden time to collect BTC was years ago, he lamented last week, saying that he bought at the right end of the 2017 bull market.
My claim to fame is that I bought the actual #Bitcoin in 2017. My buy was so bad, the additional Coinbase fee applied to AUD at that time put my bid at the top of the upper candlestick.
My pain hardly compares to that of the miners.
Since 2017, mining difficulty has increased by 4,130%, and… pic.twitter.com/vN5edmMXuf
— _Checkɱate ⚡☢️️ (@_Checkmatey_) December 23, 2023
Greedy for profit this Christmas
Despite the sluggish year-end BTC price gains, the average investor is driven by greed.
Related: Price Analysis 12/22: BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB, XRP, ADA, AVAX, DOGE, DOT, LINK
This is the final conclusion of the Crypto Fear and Greed Index, a popular sentiment gauge that looks set to end 2023 at Bitcoin's all-time high of 69,000 two years ago.
At 73/100 as of December 25, the index, which uses a basket of factors to calculate the average sentiment on the crypto investor base, is firmly in the “greedy” bracket.
As Cointelegraph reports, the sustainability of the bull market should not pose a problem yet when viewed through the lens of fear and greed. In past price cycles, only over 90/100 readings have a market macro change.
In the year With the exception of November 2021, the question for hodlers now is familiar: “Is this time different?”
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and business activity involves risk, and readers should do their own research when making a decision.
