After a wave of aggressive buying, bitcoin whales are taking some profits. The “big money” investors drove the price up as high as nearly $14,000 in the last 24-hour period, reminding the crypto community of how the market dynamics can change on a dime. Now it seems they are cashing in on some of their fortunes as the buying momentum stops dead in its tracks. After rising as much as 22% in the last 24 hours, the BTC first slashed those gains in half. Now the gains are slipping away.
Investors could get whiplash if they’re not used the roller coaster ride that bitcoin can take them on. Economist and trader Alex Kruger told CCN.com:
“Whales profit taking. Healthy pullback, even though overly volatile. Unsurprising given the prior 22% daily run higher. No technical signals. Some corrections come together with technical signals, some don’t. Price failed around the highest ever monthly close and before the $14K level some large traders considered meaningful.”
Kruger points out on Twitter:
“For BTC, price crashes are a feature, not a bug. Either avoid FOMO into positions and learn how to trade crashes, or become a long term HODLER (ideally with some form of risk management.”
CCN.com reported earlier today that it was formerly sidelined crypto capital, not new investors, that drove the price up to January 2018 highs. In fact, funds were redirected from stablecoin Tether (USDT) into bitcoin, which is a sure sign that these were experienced traders who knew what they were doing.
Now those bitcoin whales are cooling things off by cashing in on some of their profits. Bitcoin continues to trade higher but has retreated to below the $13,000 level that had the crypto community so pumped.
As if on cue, Kruger earlier today predicted that the “price will pull back eventually,” pointing to “hints of a top” based on “high-frequence charts.”
Some traders are viewing the pullback as an opportunity to buy the dip and that “instead of scaring people away, these price crashes are doing the exact opposite by attracting more buyers and strengthening support. Very bullish IMO.” Only time will tell if this proves to be the case.
The bitcoin price is currently hovering at $12,211, up about 4% on TradingView/Bitfinex.