The Bitcoin price has seen a slow start in 2023 as the cryptocurrency remains stalled and moving sideways around its current levels. Many experts believe BTC has seen the worst of the recent bearish cycle and could be gearing up for some profits. 

As of this writing, the Bitcoin price trades at $16,700 with sideways movement in the last 24 hours and the previous seven days. The low trading volume and low activity because of the holiday contributed to the current price action. 

The Bitcoin Price Near A Bottom, But Profits Remain Elusive

According to analyst Caleb Franzen, the Bitcoin price registered another indication of a bottom. Franzen and others have been tracking down the clues that could support a bullish thesis for BTC, and the Heikin Ashi printed a positive signal.

The Heikin Ashi is a technique to visualize price action and create candlestick charts to measure trends in a market. Franzen claims the Bitcoin price printed its 13th consecutive monthly Heikin Ashi on December 22. 

The last time BTC saw a similar trend was at the end of the 2018 and 2015 bear markets. This data supports a positive outlook for the Bitcoin price and hints at a bullish potential in the coming months. The analyst stated:

Each red streak has been longer than the last & we’re currently building #14 for January ’23. Historically, a green monthly candle after 5+ red monthly candles has marked the end of each bear market.

As mentioned, Franzen and other metrics point to Bitcoin forming a bottom at its current levels. Crypto exchange Coinbase claims that 50% of BTC investors present losses.

In previous bear cycles, this metric reaching 50% coincided with a “sold base for a macro market bottom,” the report from Coinbase claims:

These represent major inflection points for BTC performance, preceding subsequent periods of price appreciation, we believe this metric provides important insights into current cycle positioning.

The Bitcoin price must clear a $14 million sell wall at $17,000 to take a first step in this direction. Additional data from Material Indicators claims that this level is a significant short-term hurdle for the cryptocurrency. 

#FireCharts shows roughly $14M in ask liquidity, blocking #Bitcoin from a green Weekly candle close. pic.twitter.com/f5kfVtOd0R

— Material Indicators (@MI_Algos) January 1, 2023 

What Could Fuel A Fresh Bitcoin Rally

As NewsBTC reported, history is on the side of the bears. For the past two years and since 2015, the Bitcoin price had traded downside during January when it recorded double-digit losses. 

The start of a new year, low liquidity, and trading activity contribute to this historical pattern. The elements for another red January are there, but the cryptocurrency might surprise if macro conditions take a turn for the better. 

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) is likely to continue with its interest rate hike program, but financial institution representatives have hinted at a shift in the monetary policy. According to the trading desk QCP Capital, if the Fed rushes in and changes its approach, the Bitcoin price will benefit. 

One of the key obstacles in rolling out a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is the risk of fraud, said Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das at a press conference after the monetary policy meet on December 8, according to a Livemint report. At the same time, the Economic Times reported that the proposed cryptocurrency Bill in India is expected to put a complete ban on exchange-to-exchange transfers.

Meanwhile, the prices of all mainstream coins, except Bitcoin (BTC), rose in the last 24 hours. Prices of Bitcoin fell 1.20 per cent to trade at $49,823.13 at 8:30 am, according to data from global crypto exchange coinmarketcap.com. Bitcoin’s dominance in the crypto market is currently 39.86 per cent with a decrease of 0.64 per cent over the day.

Ethereum (ETH) was up 1.3 per cent and was trading at $4,385.19, while Binance Coin (BNB) witnessed a rise of 5.37 per cent and was trading at $603.85. Solana (SOL) was trading at $190.51, rising 0.56 per cent, and Cardano (ADA) rise 0.62 per cent to $1.38.

“The market has fallen flat and the volatility remains calm, despite the recent sell-off,” says Gaurav Dahake, chief executive officer and founder of Bitbns, an Indian crypto exchange.

Meme Coins

Except Samoyedcoin (SAMO), all major meme coins such as Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogelon Mars (ELON) fell in the last 24 hours.

Dogecoin witnessed a fall of 0.89 per cent and was trading at $0.1769 at 8:30 am. Rival Shiba Inu lost 0.56 per cent and was trading at $0.00003653, Dogelon Mars fell by 2.14 per cent and was trading at $0.00000122, while Samoyedcoin was trading at $0.04697 and recorded a rise of 7.85 per cent.

Overall Scenario

The global crypto market cap was $2.36 trillion, registering an increase of 0.48 per cent in the last 24 hours, while the total crypto market volume was $102.24 billion, down 5.92 per cent.

Christmas Floaki X (CFlokiX) became the biggest gainer, recording a rise of 436.34 per cent; it was trading at $0.00001748 at 8:30 am. On the other hand, Andromeda (M31) witnessed maximum loss, falling 98.85 per cent; it was trading at $0.001584.

Latest Update

According to an Economic Times report, the proposed Cryptocurrency Bill in India is expected to put a complete ban on exchange-to-exchange transfers in the country, limit certain types of wallets masking identities, and completely end dealing in cryptocurrencies through Google Chrome extensions that allow users to dabble in more than 4,000 cryptos.

Talking about cyber frauds in general and in cryptocurrencies, RBI Governor Das said, “(The) main concern comes from the angle of cyber security and the possibility of digital frauds so we have to be very careful about that. A few years ago, we had major concerns around fake Indian currency notes. Similar things can also happen when you are launching central bank digital currency (CBDC).” He was talking to reporters at a post-policy press conference.

Meanwhile, an experiment by the Banque de France (BdF), the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB), under Project Jura, showed that CBDCs can be used effectively for international settlements between financial institutions. The recently completed Project Jura explored the settlement of foreign exchange (FX) transactions in euro and Swiss franc wholesale CBDC as well as issuing, transferring and redeeming a tokenised euro-denominated French commercial paper between French and Swiss financial institutions, according to a press release.

 

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