Blockchain and Cryptocurrency: People, Culture and Tech
Bitcoin continued its “ranging” behavior on August 11 as volatility gave way to a fresh corridor below $12,000. Data from price trackers including CoinMarketCap showed BTC/USD adopting a new focal point around $11,700 after several days of intense activity.
At $11,770, BTC/USD had all but erased the effects of its precipitous fall last weekend, during which it fell from above $12,000 to $10,870 in a matter of minutes. Further upside, analysts predict, may be harder to sustain.
Previous weeks were marked by macro volatility dictating Bitcoin price movements. The assets’ correlation is well documented, with Bitcoin and the S&P 500, for example, 95% correlated. Both this week and last, however, the pattern of copycat moves was conspicuously broken. Bitcoin is gaining over stocks, which are by contrast much less volatile.
After weeks of price compression, bulls have returned to the driving seat, a bout of volatility which took markets broadly by surprise. Analysts previously expected a natural end to Bitcoin’s narrowing trading corridor, but the extent of the bullish breakout was unanticipated.
