Instead, the widely-anticipated slip to sub $7.5k was waiting to catch the fall where it is currently settled – albeit quite uncomfortably – at around $7,400. Many observers had anticipated Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance before US Congress yesterday afternoon would have been the narrative that the BTC markets would follow. However, bitcoin didn’t even have the courtesy to wait for the Facebook chief’s excruciating grilling before the red lines cascaded down the charts.
As always in these circumstances, the questions now will always revolve around which bitcoin will emerge from this latest turmoil – the excited, rubberised bouncy ball that heads for $10,000 like a puppy eager to please its owner?
The sulking, miserable teenager who wants to slump further and drag everyone else’s mood down with it?
Or the lethargic crab that simply wants nothing but market apathy and sideways movement?
The answer, as it almost always is, is simply that no one really knows with any great deal of certainty.
There’ll be guesswork, and some will even get it right purely by the law of averages before claiming they knew all along.
However, whether you’re a curious investor, a seasoned trader, or simply an interested observer, it should always be worth noting that a cryptocurrency market does not behave like traditional trading floors where speculation and technical analysis are to be respected.
Instead, largely driven by a desire to create volatility, BTC answers to the whims of market makers and other dark forces that can influence it greatly.
There are, however, some intelligent pointers that could help us see the route on the map that bitcoin is likely to take.
• Coin Rivet is a website bringing news, information, analysis, opinion and insight from the fast-moving blockchain world.