(Kitco News) - Bitcoin (BTC) and the wider crypto market trended lower in trading on Thursday as the lack of any notable developments and the resignation of prime minister Liz Truss in the U.K. led to muted trading activity.
U.S. stocks experienced a second day of losses amid a barrage of Q3 financial results as concerns that persistent weakness will diminish any possible growth for the foreseeable future. At the close of markets, the S&P, Dow and Nasdaq were all in the red, down 0.8%, 0.3% and 0.61%, respectively.
Data from TradingView shows that Bitcoin bulls lost support at $19,200 in the early hours on Thursday and briefly fell to a daily low of $19,825 before managing to climb back above support at $19,000.
BTC/USD 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The low volatility, sideways and choppy trading range has been going on for the past five weeks,” according to Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff, causing the anxiety level among traders to rise as the tightening coil is bound to spring sooner or later.
As for now, “Bulls and bears continue to fight for control, with neither having a decided edge, Wyckoff said. “That suggests more of the same in the near term.”
The consensus is that price will head lower
A survey of various analysts and the general consensus on crypto Twitter is that Bitcoin will likely see lower prices in the near term as economic headwinds continue to mount.
One potential trajectory that could play out was provided by pseudonymous market analyst Crypto Tony, who is anticipating an end-of-the-year pump to be followed by the typical dump that has regularly occurred around the start of a new year.
$BTC / $USD - Update
— Crypto Tony (@CryptoTony__) October 20, 2022
From a macro perspective we could see a few different scenarios play out. This is one i am anticipating
A flat pattern followed by the final leg down. Would make an excellent end of year pump, followed by the standard new year and Chinese new year dumps pic.twitter.com/VVluBgwsBO
As for the main factor causing widespread weakness in the crypto market – and the majority of global financial markets – analyst and CEO of Eight Global Michaël van de Poppe posted the following tweet which highlights a major culprit.
The most hawkish CB ever, debt/GDP towards 5.6%, the highest ever.
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) October 20, 2022
Last peak at 5.0% in 1980. pic.twitter.com/4dgmz4EJK9
All quiet on the altcoin front
There’s not much new to report in the Altcoin market, as sideways trading and diminished volume have kept the majority of tokens within two percentage points of their recently established prices.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360
The biggest gainers on the day include an 11.23% increase for Mdex (MDX), a 7.74% gain for Chain (XCN), and a 7.26% increase for Medibloc (MED).
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $915 billion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 40%.
