In the past week, Bitcoin recorded an overall positive performance, gaining by 3.45%, according to data from CoinMarketCap. This price rise adds to BTC’s bullish form in the last 30 days, during which the maiden cryptocurrency has surged by 16.78%. However, despite this market uptick, there appears to be a growing trend of caution among Bitcoin traders, indicating fear of a potential price dump.
Analyst Highlights Evidence Of Growing Caution In The Bitcoin Market
In an X Post on Saturday, popular crypto analyst Ali Martinez shared an interesting observation regarding the Bitcoin market with his 37,000 followers.
According to Martinez, there is a significant decrease in the estimated leverage ratio in the BTC market across all exchanges. This indicates that traders are reducing their leverage risk and are now treading carefully in the BTC market, even amidst the current price gain.
As #Bitcoin price climbs, we see a decrease in the Estimated Leverage Ratio – a sign that traders are reducing their leverage risk. This suggests a more cautious approach in the #crypto market despite the $BTC price uptick. pic.twitter.com/421FjfyV6b
— Ali (@ali_charts) December 22, 2023
For context, leverage is a trading function that allows users to borrow funds in order to increase the size of a position beyond what would be possible with one’s own capital alone. Leverage allows traders to amplify their profits potentially, albeit it also comes with increased risk.
Now, the Estimated Leverage Ratio is a metric that quantifies the extent to which traders in the market are using leverage. Thus, a decreased estimated leverage ratio implies that traders are reducing the amount of borrowed funds relative to their own capital in their positions. In other words, they are decreasing the level of leverage they are using, which can be seen as a sign of caution among traders against a potential market dump.
The BTC market, which is currently on an uptrend, has witnessed similar puzzling events recently. On Friday, NewsBTC reported that Bitcoin whales sold 50,000 BTC worth $2.2 billion in the last week. All these movements are indicative of investors preparing for a possible bearish trend.
BTC Price
At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades around $43,626, with a 0.09% decline in the last day. Meanwhile, the token’s daily trading volume is significantly down by 29.63% and is currently valued at $17.22 billion.
For now, there is no clear indicative danger to BTC’s bullish form. Albeit, there is a high level of anticipation in regard to a potential approval order of the spot Bitcoin ETF in January.
While many analysts predict a spot Bitcoin ETF will lead to increased demand for Bitcoin, others are fearful of turning the maiden cryptocurrency into a state-controlled financial asset. However, Bitget chief analyst Ryan Lee anticipates Bitcoin to trade between $32,000 – $50,000 depending on the effects of this investment fund.
BTC trading at $43,576 on the daily chart | Source: BTCUSD chart on Tradingview.com