The cryptocurrency sector seems to have entered calmer seas as most of its largest assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), haven’t recorded major changes in prices in recent weeks, along with the global crypto market capitalization.
As things stand, the global crypto market cap is currently $931.63 billion, recording an increase of 1.23% over the week but a decrease of 4.46% compared to one month before, as per data retrieved by Finbold from CoinMarketCap on October 18.
Considering the market’s volatility prior to June 2022, these changes are unimpressive, although crypto trading expert Michaël van de Poppe observed that open interest was still “going through the roof,” which leads to “lots of people eagerly shorting the markets.”
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Indeed, both Bitcoin and Ethereum open interest on the largest crypto exchange Binance have soared, with Ethereum’s rising by 10% since the end of September 2022, and Bitcoin’s as much as 20% at the same time, as Finbold earlier reported.
No drama in market volumes or on-chain activity
It is also worth noting that the crypto market volumes are recording no dramatic changes either, suggesting low interest from bulls and bears alike, as observed by BaroVirtual, an analyst at the crypto analytics platform CryptoQuant.
According to the analyst:
“From about September 9, 2022, it is pretty clear that the volumes in both the spot crypto market and the derivative crypto market are essentially sideways; there are no pronounced peaks and thoughts, as well as powerful crosses, which indicates that interest from both bulls and bears is low.”
As BaroVirtual added, “these moments are not uncommon to be pivotal in price action.”
Finally, the on-chain activity of the flagship digital asset has been noted as “nonexistent,” as metrics that track its spending/lifespan are “down at 2010 levels, near the first conceptions of price,” crypto analytics firm Unfolded stated on October 18.
Storm on the horizon?
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $19,537, up 0.90% on the day, as well as 2.49% across the week, whereas Ethereum stood at $1,325, recording gains of 0.39% over the previous 24 hours and 3.52% compared to the week before.
That said, Van de Poppe still believes the current smooth sailing could just be the calm before the storm, at least where Bitcoin is concerned, as its volatility index below 25 historically meant “a guaranteed recipe for massive volatility.”
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