Bitcoin investors sit on their hands at $26,000 — can a velocity rebound reproduce the kind of breakout seen three years ago?
Bitcoin (BTC) on-chain activity is at levels last seen before its run to 2021 all-time highs, data shows.
In an X (formerly Twitter) post on Aug. 25, Ki Young Ju, CEO of analytics platform CryptoQuant, revealed multiyear lows in Bitcoin velocity.
Bitcoin supply stagnates at $26,000
Bitcoin is becoming increasingly static at current price levels — with an overall BTC price trend absent for months, the impetus to buy or sell is reduced.
Underscoring this status quo is velocity, which is a measurement of BTC units moving around the network.
According to CryptoQuant, on daily timeframes, the metric is now at levels last seen in October 2020.
“There are two sides to this situation,” Ki commented.
“It can be seen as positive since whales are holding onto it, or negative since it’s not being transferred to new investors.”
Ki referred to a similar absence of major trading activity among high-volume investors — part of a narrative that states that the market is in “wait and see” mode on BTC.
As Cointelegraph reported, new money entering the space was visible at the beginning of the year, as BTC/USD began its Q1 winning streak, which ultimately totaled 70%.
“Oversold” RSI signal persists
The volume data meanwhile appears significant for another reason.
In late 2020, once it put in a long-term bottom, the metric’s rebound accompanied Bitcoin’s first ascent past $20,000 to new all-time highs a year later.
Unlike then, however, Bitcoin appears broadly oversold at its current $26,000, per its daily relative strength index (RSI) as measured by Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.
As Cointelegraph reported, the 12-hour RSI hit its lowest in five years this month and has yet to recover — again reflecting a return of investor interest still to materialize.
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