Journalist
Posted:
- Bitcoin trader activity has declined as price consolidation continues.
- Bitwise cited historically weak summer and September seasons as the cause for BTC’s weakness.
Since the massive sell-off in early August, Bitcoin [BTC] is struggling to stay above $60,000. The muted price action continued in the first half of September.
According to a Glassnode reportThis weak price action has led to “reduced trading appetite” from BTC traders. Part of his latest report cited low crypto exchange volumes and read:
“We can see that the monthly average volume is well below the annual volume. This underlines a decline in investor demand and less trading by speculators within the current price range.”
Source: Glassnode
The report added that a crypto exchange is the center of price discovery and speculation activities. So, shrinking volume on this front indicated weak demand from BTC traders and investors.
BTC selling pressure is increasing
Glassode also noted that the spot market experienced general selling pressure in August and throughout the quarter.
Using the spot CVD (Cumulative Volume Delta), which tracks the net balance between buying and selling volumes, the metric was overwhelmingly negative in the third quarter.
Source: Glassnode
For his part, Bitwise cited seasonality as a likely factor in BTC’s weak performance and sentiment in the third quarter, especially in September.
The asset manager illustrated that BTC historically posted negative returns in August and September.
Source: Bitwise
However, the company noted a general trend of poor summer performance across all assets as investors adopt the ‘sell in May and go away’ mantra.
That said, October is historically a great month for BTC, with an average return of almost 30%.
If the trend repeats, it could mean a strong recovery for BTC in the fourth quarter. However, according to crypto trading firm QCP Capital, there is one caveat.
According to QCP Capital, the recent debate between Trump and Harris showed not a strong lead among the candidates and could trigger a risky event.
“The absence of a clear front-runner in this election, coupled with the murky policy positions of both parties, raises the possibility of a risky move in risk assets as we approach Election Day.”
At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $57,000, a few hours ahead of the August US CPI (Consumer Price Index) data.