Bitcoin Holds On To The Bearish Attack, But Crypto Markets May Tumble

Bitcoin managed to fight back the price drop, consolidating around $21,500 after a week full of price uncertainty that pushed the crypto leader all the way to a weekly low of $20,856.73 per BTC. However, Bitcoin bulls failed to push its price to more than $21,900, resulting in a pullback to support at $21,600.

“Bears have the slight overall near-term technical advantage. The [price movement] pause has also produced a “collapse in volatility,” which suggests a bigger price move is on the horizon. Technical odds favor that bigger move being on the downside,” according to market analyst Jim Wyckoff.

Indeed, trading volumes are almost without a change, which coincides with the accumulation period. However, as the trading volumes remain relatively flat, while the price fluctuates, may induce yet another trip downwards.

Market analyst Michaël van de Poppe joined other crypto experts in the thesis that $21,500 is among the key support zones to look for, since a drop below the support may spark a negative trend.

Other cryptos also showed little to no price action with many analysts considering the lack of global events to be the cause for the calm crypto horizon.          

Coinbase CEO disagrees

Meanwhile, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong considers the crypto winter is far from over and it would take another 12 to 18 months to be completely gone. Armstrong’s views may be the reason the largest U.S. crypto exchange is still implying cost-cutting measures and changing its business model.

Indeed, the situation with Coinbase is slightly alarming, as the exchange reported a 60% loss in sales in Q2 of 2022, which is roughly $1.1 billion. However, according to Coinbase’s CEO, the difficulties the exchange faces are a normal cycle in the crypto world.

“I think one of the reasons Coinbase has been so successful over the last ten years is that we try not to focus on just the short-term ups and downs,” Armstrong commented, highlighting that transaction fees, which are the main source of income for crypto exchanges, and bull markets are not a good combination, as lower trading volumes mean less profit from operating the crypto exchange.

“We realize transaction fees… [are] going to be a big part of our business in 10 years or even 20 years from now, but I wanted to create a scenario where more than 50% of revenue is from subscriptions and services, with 18% of revenue,” Armstrong concluded.