Decentral Block Post

Bitcoin (BTC) traders are desperate for fresh BTC price volatility, but opinions are diverging on when it will come.

BTC/USD is currently seeing some of the least volatile conditions in its history, price metrics show.

Volatility far from guaranteed

Since the FTX crisis, Bitcoin has settled into a historically narrow trading range which refuses to budge.

Despite macro triggers, low-volume holiday trading and a yearly candle close, BTC price action has stuck rigidly to a zone focused on $17,000.

This is the least volatile period in the history of the Bitcoin historical volatility index (BVOL), and other data likewise shows that such sideways behavior is extremely rare.

Bonk, a meme token modeled after Shiba Inu (SHIB) that launched on Dec. 25, 2022, and some traders believe the token’s trading volume is potentially driving Solana (SOL) price up. Over the past 48-hours, SOL price has gained to 34% and Bonk is up 117% in the past 24-hours according to data from CoinMarketCap. While the wider crypto market remains suppressed, traders are hoping that Bonk could present new opportunities during the downturn. 

According to the project’s website, Bonk is the first dog token on the Solana blockchain. Initially, 50% of the token supply was airdropped to Solana users with a mission to remove toxic Alameda-styled token economics. The airdrop resulted in more than $20 million in trading volume according to the Solana decentralized exchange, Orca.

High yield returns

Liquidity providers (LPs) stand to benefit from interacting with Bonk, and on Jan. 4, LPs are earning over 999% APR, which is much higher than the popular SOL / USD Coin (USDC) pairing.

While high yields do not always maintain such a high level, the current rates show a large market demand for Bonk. In addition to the increase in demand, Bonk also burned 1 billion of supply on Jan. 3.

Solana (SOL) bounces alongside Bonk

Blockchains like Solana benefit from increased usage. After the FTX collapse, Solana saw multiple projects leaving the ecosystem. On Jan. 4, Solana saw an 18.6% increase in 24-hour fees and a 15.8% increase in 24-hour daily active users.

Bonk, a meme token modeled after Shiba Inu (SHIB) that launched on Dec. 25, is skyrocketing and some traders believe the token’s trading volume is potentially driving Solana’s (SOL) price up. Over the past 48 hours, SOL price has gained 34%, and in the past 24 hours, Bonk has climbed 117%, according to data from CoinMarketCap. While the wider crypto market remains suppressed, traders are hoping that Bonk could present new opportunities during the downturn. 

According to the project’s website, Bonk is the first dog token on the Solana blockchain. Initially, 50% of the token supply was airdropped to Solana users with a mission to remove toxic Alameda-styled token economics. The airdrop resulted in more than $20 million in trading volume according to the Solana decentralized exchange Orca.

High yield returns

Liquidity providers (LPs) stand to benefit from interacting with Bonk, and on Jan. 4, LPs are earning over 999% APR, which is much higher than the popular SOL/USD Coin (USDC) pairing.

While high yields do not always stay high, the current rates show large market demand for Bonk. In addition to the increase in demand, Bonk also burned 1 billion of supply on Jan. 3.

Solana (SOL) bounces alongside Bonk

Blockchains like Solana benefit from increased usage. After the FTX collapse, Solana saw multiple projects leaving the ecosystem. On Jan. 4, Solana saw an 18.6% increase in 24-hour fees and a 15.8% increase in 24-hour daily active users.

Gold made a strong start to the new year and is trading close to a seven-month high on expectations that the United States Federal Reserve may slow down and hike rates only by 25 basis points in its next meeting on Feb. 1. 

Cryptocurrency markets have also shown a mild uptick but are yet to make a decisive move higher. One of the reasons could be renewed fears regarding Digital Currency Group’s liquidity issues, which again came into focus after Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss penned an open letter to DCG CEO Barry Silbert on the alleged $900 million that Genesis owes Gemini.

Among all the gloom, Circle's chief strategy officer and head of global policy, Dante Disparte, sounded positive and said in a Jan. 2 post for The World Economic Forum that the current crisis in the cryptocurrency space may eventually prove to be a boon. Disparte believes that the crypto bear market of 2022 could start “a handover of crypto technology and blockchain infrastructure to steadier hands.”

Could cryptocurrencies break out of the slumber and start a sustained recovery as investors allocate fresh money to various asset classes? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin (BTC) climbed above the moving averages on Jan. 4, indicating buying at lower levels. The next level to watch on the upside is $17,061 where the bears may mount a strong resistance.

Bitcoin (BTC) is now further below a key moving average than it was at the pit of the March 2020 COVID-19 crash.

In a tweet on Jan. 4, popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital revealed just how remarkable the current Bitcoin bear market really is.

BTC price 200-week moving average out of reach

Not only has Bitcoin now spent more time below its 200-week moving average (WMA) than ever before, it is now further beneath it than at any time in history.

Looking at the weekly BTC/USD chart, Rekt Capital confirmed that as of Jan. 4, BTC/USD traded around 37% below the 200 WMA.

This, he noted, was “Deeper than the -31% retracement in March 2020.”