Markets Report: Bitcoin dives to $18,100 as $20,000 sparks huge volatility

Bitcoin saw a unique day on December 1 as volatility took the market up and down by $1,000 or more.

Data from price trackers including CoinMarketCap and TradingView showed BTC/USD fluctuating wildly as it approached the historic $20,000.

Even before Wall St. opened on Tuesday, Bitcoin was gearing up to produce some highly unusual activity. After coming within $100 of $20,000 and beating its all-time highs, the largest cryptocurrency shed $1,000 in under ten minutes.

$20,000 proves to be Bitcoin’s Everest

Such a move is almost unheard of, even in the unpredictable world of Bitcoin price action, and its appearance underscored the significance of $20,000 as a price level.

As Modern Consensus reported, a similar event occurred when Bitcoin attempted to retake $19,500 last week. Since then, market strength has returned, but the ability to beat selling pressure at $20,000 remains elusive.

“Today is a day to remember for Bitcoin,” popular Twitter commentator MMCrypto declared as the volatility hit.

Overall bullishness continued to characterize sentiment on Tuesday, despite the rejection and a number of factors pointing to a fresh potential price drop. 

Among these is the giant $1,300 futures gap at $16,900, with futures markets still to react to what is traditionally a short-term price influence. On Tuesday, the market conversely continued rising, hitting $20,300 prior to the sudden reversal.

The local high does not represent a record for CME Group’s Bitcoin futures, the benchmark for the industry, as these first traded at $20,700 in December 2017.

Rejection doesn’t bother the bulls

Amid the excitement, another metric flashed a bigger warning than ever about the prospect of a market correction. 

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, previous dipping from near record highs, U-turned to match its “greediest” ever reading from 2019 on Tuesday — 95/100.

A reliable sentiment indicator, Fear & Greed has called Bitcoin more volatile movements over the past three years, its rise coinciding with a similar scenario for the traditional market equivalent.

Nonetheless, with the latest spot price highs, Bitcoin has now delivered profit to every single investor who bought it in its twelve-year history—no one who “hodled” has lost money.

“Congratulations to the majority of crypto twitter, you are finally break even on your position. It has been a hard 3 years,” trader Michaël van de Poppe summarized in tongue-in-cheek comments on Tuesday. 

At press time, the results of the drop were still playing out, with BTC/USD breaking support at $19,000 after a modest bounce to dive to $18,100, followed by another bounce back to $18,900. 

Long-term confidence showed little sign of dwindling among Bitcoin stalwarts, with Samson Mow, CSO of Blockstream, adding:

“Prediction: 2021 is just going to be new #Bitcoin ATHs every few days.”