Bitcoin (BTC) still managed to add $500 within days, showing that falling through the $5,800 level is delayed, at least in the short term. BTC saw enough optimism over the weekend to recover the $6,300 level. Here are five reasons BTC is showing price strength:
Tethers Coming Back: USDT pairings have always affected Bitcoin. However, lately, funds either withdrew to USDT and stayed there, or the dollar-pegged tokens moved to support altcoins and promising project tokens. But now, USDT is back with a vengeance. Habitually around 14-17%, the influence of USDT widened over the weekend to more than 30%. Since most of Bitcoin trading is still happening on Bittrex, the support for Bitcoin looks almost like a concerted effort. True, no new USDT were printed - but it is also possible a USDT whale may have supported the leading asset. At this time last year, BTC was still below $5,000 and levels above $6,000 were seen as exceptional.
https://twitter.com/Bitfinexed/status/1013615142293135361
As usual, Tether trading is seen as dangerous, and harming BTC in the long term. Recently, the Kraken exchange defended itself against accusations that it is serving a shadow role in supporting the USDT dollar peg.
https://twitter.com/krakenfx/status/1013373933284802560
Altcoins are Disappointing: Altcoins and tokens had their run in April and May, but could not repeat the Super Moon seen in December. Once the enthusiasm disappeared, funds may be flowing back into Bitcoin. A new bull market may start with BTC, which is still the most actively traded coin, taking up 30% of all deals. With Ethereum (ETH) getting weaker, and no other asset promising to replace BTC, appetite for the leading coin may reappear.
Low Volumes Allow for Growth: During the bear market, Bitcoin has enough long-term holders who still don’t want to abandon the ship, even at sliding prices. Low volumes signify a low appetite for buying, but also no real desire to dump BTC. Those who sold in anger or despair may already be gone from the markets. And with low volumes, a temporary spike, or a longer-term trend, may be viable for BTC.
No Bad News for a While: Bitcoin showed it is still sensitive to bad news. While some believe the current price drop signifies a concerted market manipulation, the past weeks saw enough troubles to shake down confidence. An investigation against Kraken, ItBit, Coinbase, and Bitstamp, followed by additional hardships for Japanese exchanges, added to the bad mood. Bit the crypto market moves fast, discounting those news - and now, Bitcoin may be seeing renewed optimis.
Talk of a Bitcoin ETF: This is one big factor possibly heralding the inflow of institutional money into Bitcoin. While there may be enough BTC to invest in, the market has suffered from a lack of fresh funds. The printing of USDT may not be enough, and neither can be the creation of TrueUSD (TUSD) tokens, where the supply is also supposedly backed by real fiat investments. For Bitcoin, the inflow of institutional money in a fully legalized asset like an ETF would be a sign of legitimacy. Some traditional finance firms have made forays into Bitcoin, but those were mostly small-scale test investments.
https://twitter.com/RamenofBinance/status/1013607260050751488
An ETF may create demand for holding actual Bitcoin, unlike BTC futures, which are cash-settled, and do not affect exchanges.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest