Bitcoin Drops to $3,800 as Analyst Points to Incoming Institutional Investor Inflows

Bitcoin, the number one cryptocurrency by market cap is on its way to close its 10th consecutive session below the $4,000 mark, which has been seemingly acting as a resistance since December 28.

According to CryptoCompare data, BTC is currently trading at roughly $3,800 after falling 0.65% in the last 24-hour period. Remaining below the $4,000 mark has taken its toll, as in the last two weeks it’s now down 5.33%.

Recently, as covered, a technical indicator was ‘flashing’ a buy signal for the cryptocurrency, which implied its price would rise if its buying pressure continued. Its price decline notably comes amid various positive developments, including an ad shown on the front page of The Times, commemorating the genesis block’s 10-year anniversary.

The bear market has taken its toll on cryptocurrency miners, but a recent difficulty adjustment saw it rise by 10%, breaking a months-long downwards trend, and implying miners are turning their machines back on. Moreover, the crypto lending business is prospering.

Bitcoin adoption has also been growing. Luxurious real estate properties in Greece have recently been put for sale for crypto, and online retailer Overstock has recently revealed it’s going to pay a “portion” of its taxes using bitcoin in Ohio. The move will take advantage of an initiative that saw the state become the first in the US to accept BTC for tax payments.

From a technical point of view, bitcoin’s $3,500 to $3,000 zone is seen as a support, and while it’s possible its price will dip below it in the near future, a rise is expected in the long-term. Speaking to MarketWatch, deVere group CEO Nigel Green claimed the crypto market is set for an upswing this year.

He added that bearish sentiment from Q4 2018 is now “behind us.” Green was quoted as saying:

We can expect the current upswing to continue, albeit with peaks and troughs as in any financial market. In 2019, the cryptocurrency market is set to radically evolve. We can expect considerable expansion of the sector largely due to inflows of institutional investors.

Altcoins Post Mixed Results

Despite bitcoin’s downturn, the crypto market’s top altcoins are currently posting mixed results. Often, these follow BTC’s price as traders take advantage of arbitrage opportunities, but at press time only BCH, ZEC, Dash and XRP are down.

Litecoin, a cryptocurrency created to be the silver to bitcoin’s gold, is trading at $31 after rising nearly 1%, while EOS is at $2.7 after rising 0.75%. Privacy-centric cryptocurrency Monero has risen to $51, while ether is currently up 1.4%, at $150.8.

Ether’s price has notably been rising in the last few days, so much so that it recently overtook XRP to become the second-largest crypto by market cap. Its most recent rise has been fueled by exchanges like Binance revealing they’ll support its upcoming Constantinople hard fork.