Bitcoin finally saw a pullback yesterday after a momentus run that saw it tip $8,366, which caps a magnificent May that has seen it rise over $3,000 in just two weeks. It was clear that the parabolic run couldn’t continue indefinitely and yesterday it finally ran out of steam, at least in the short term, and pulled back to the $7,700 mark before a small bounce.
Given the nature of its run it’s almost impossible to predict where it might eventually drop back to, or if it will re-test the yearly highs it posted Tuesday. As expected, alts didn’t fare too well as BTC tumbled, with many slipping into the red or hovering in the green, except for LINK, who announced their mainnet at Consensus, and XRP, who both saw gains in the twenties. However, if BTC can continue within its current range for a week or two, we should start to see some serious gains in alts across the board.
Investors Search for Reasons
As the entire cryptosphere sat scratching their heads to try and work out what had caused the crazy price action, some put forward theories, including retail buyers getting back in on the back of mainstream media coverage, institutions not wanting to miss out, and the growth of adoption in the sector:
I took a look at the App Store earlier today, “Coinbase” was trending. pic.twitter.com/YH21OnhXjY
— rae (@cryptorae) 14 May 2019
The institutions aren’t coming to buy your shitcoins.
They’re accumulating Bitcoin.
— Pomp ? (@APompliano) 13 May 2019
In 2017, we didn’t have:
• Bakkt otw
• Fidelity
• @elonmusk & @jack shouting out #bitcoin
• Samsung integrated $crypto wallets
• HTC full node capabilities
• Heavily improved general #cryptocurrency UI
• 100x more educational content out thereThis time IS different.
— The Crypto Dog? (@TheCryptoDog) 14 May 2019
Bitcoin tops $8,000@APompliano makes the case to @kevinolearytv on why he is bullish on Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/irQHUybfC6
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) 14 May 2019
Certainly news coming out this week that Bakkt is preparing for a July launch and Starbucks, Nordstrom, and Whole Foods now accept Bitcoin stoked the flames, but the fire was already lit by that point, perhaps by good old FOMO after its quick burst through the $6,000s.
Binance Fails to Come Back Online
Binance was expected to have resumed full operations Tuesday, which some predicted would have a negative effect on the market, but an announcement early Tuesday stated that this would not be completed until Wednesday morning (UTC time). Given that BTC has already had a haircut, it will be interesting to see what impact a 6-8 hour trading freeze will now have on the price. Although it seems Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao may have had other things on his mind…
Don’t bet against Bitcoin, and don’t bet against B…
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) May 13, 2019
