The run-up to the May 2020 block reward halving will look nothing like the last two, says Willy Woo, as bearish sentiment characterizes markets.
Bitcoin (BTC) barely managed to maintain $8,000 support on Nov. 19 as analysts warn the outlook for markets is increasingly bearish.
Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360
Bitcoin sheds 3.7% overnight
Data from Coin360 showed BTC/USD bounce off lows of $8,077 on Tuesday, having spent the time since the weekend eroding previous gains.
On Monday, a sudden dip took the pair below $8,100 for the first time since late October, with price action fluctuating around that level since.
At press time, a slight reversal had taken Bitcoin back to $8,150, with daily losses still at 3.7% and weekly losses totaling almost 7%.
Bitcoin daily price chart. Source: Coin360
Woo: Bitcoin “won’t repeat past halvings”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, analysts revealed they had cause for concern for Bitcoin price — not just in the short term — but even after the May 2020 block reward halving.
“I expect way more volatility. Short term bearish is all I’m saying. And don’t expect price will repeat past halvenings,” statistician Willy Woo summarized in a Twitter update on Monday.
Woo was referring to historical trends in Bitcoin, which saw its two previous halvings — in 2012 and 2016 — come after several months of bullish price action.
Previously, sentiment likewise favored the 2020 event as a bullish turning point, with markets entering a highly bullish phase thereafter. This time, however, the bears are in control.
“Well this time around, we have gone $14k->$7.5k and that’s killing off weak miners who are dumping and dying,” Woo explained. He added:
“This adds to the already bearish action, so no happy front running 6-months out due to sell pressure. You can’t draw repeat fractals, the fundamentals are different.”
As Cointelegraph reported, a traditionally accurate Bitcoin price model still calls for an average BTC/USD price of $8,300 until the halving.
Altcoins see heavy losses in more volatile trading
Altcoin traders meanwhile suffered similar punishment to Bitcoiners on Tuesday, with many major cryptocurrencies shedding around 5% of their value.
Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin by market cap, fell just over 3% to hit $177.
Ether 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
Others fared worse, with EOS (EOS) down 6.7%, Tron (TRX) 7.5% and Cardano (ADA) 7.2%. The latter thus reversed the gains it made on Monday when it sealed roughly 4% gains.
The overall cryptocurrency market cap was $228.7 billion at press time, down $6 billion in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin’s share stood at 66%.
