Bitcoin's Down 22% From All-Time High as Price Dips

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has lost over 22% of its value since setting an all-time high of over $41,900 in December last year.

The asset currently trades at $32,700 after a sell-off in the wee hours this morning. As a result of this price action, Bitcoin’s market cap now sits at $600 billion compared to over $750 billion in December—representing a mammoth $150 billion loss in value.

As per the below image, Bitcoin trades below its 55-period moving average (a popular indicator used by traders) and is in a downtrend. The indicator calculates the average value of the last 55 prices Bitcoin traded at (every four hours), which allows traders to analyze and assess the market trend.

But despite the falling prices, analytics firm Glassnode suggests investors are purchasing large amounts of Bitcoin, instead of selling the asset and taking profits. 

On-chain data from the past month shows over 270,000 Bitcoin was withdrawn from crypto exchanges to addresses marked as “HODLers,” or crypto wallets that are known to stack large amounts of Bitcoin instead of selling/spending it.

However, not everyone is interested in buying Bitcoin at these prices. A report by financial news outlet FT last week said the asset’s infamous volatility was not finding takers among traditional asset managers and banks.

Some Bitcoin-friendly hedge fund managers are bearish in the short term too. Scott Minerd, CIO of multi-billion dollar investment manager Guggenheim Partners, said in a CNBC interview on Wednesday that he doesn’t see Bitcoin going past its $41,000 price in 2021.

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“We probably put in the top for Bitcoin for the next year or so. And we are likely to see a full retracement back toward the $20,000 level,” Minerd said.

Minerd—whose firm had filed its interest in purchasing Bitcoin with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last year—had previously cautioned investors from buying at the current prices as well, stating the asset's rise above the "technical upside" of $35,000 had signaled a potential correction.

Despite Minerd’s bearish outlook, he still stands by his $400,000 price target for Bitcoin.