The last few Decembers have been significant for the Bitcoin market. While the final months of the year are typically associated with major price moves in the market, the last two years have seen their own, albeit very different, fireworks.
As pointed out by cryptocurrency analyst The Moon (@themooncarl), two years ago, the price of Bitcoin hit its current all-time high. The bull run that would take Bitcoin from sub $1,000 at the start of 2017 to just under $20,000 peaked on December 16, 2017.
Fast forward twelve months to December 2018, the price arrived at what is now commonly held as the bottom of the 2018 bear market. Curiously, also on December 16, Bitcoin hit a local low of around $3,200. It has since rebounded to almost $14,000 this summer before gradually slipping back to its current price of $6,750.
Exactly 2 years ago today, the #Bitcoin price hit its $19,931 all-time-high.
Exactly 1 year ago today, the #BTC price was $3,245, very close to the bottom.
December seems to be a significant month for Bitcoin! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/IzPg4WXY7z
— The Moon 🌙 (@TheMoonCarl) December 17, 2019
Although yesterday saw a fairly substantial drop in Bitcoin prices, this December has not been quite as dramatic as during the previous two years. Yesterday, the BTC price fell below $7,000 for the first time in weeks. Some analysts are linking the sudden selling pressure with misinformation regarding the alleged Chinese PlusToken Ponzi scheme.
Long Ethereum from $132. ETH led the move down, nosediving as much as 10% at the low.
Likely drivers of the outsized reaction:
– a factually inaccurate @chainalysis report claiming Plustoken holds 6.4MM ETH (real # likely 789K)
– low holiday liquidity to absorb market selling. pic.twitter.com/kP8SYJtF9K— light (@lightcrypto) December 16, 2019
Looking back in Bitcoin’s history, the final month of the year has often been significant. In 2013, the Bitcoin price had a similar bull run to that seen in 2017. The prior all-time high just shy of $1,200 was set on Dec 5, 2013. The bear market that followed ultimately bottomed just over a year later in January 2015. The Bitcoin price has never visited the sub $200 level since.
The following two Decembers saw interest in Bitcoin growing once again. In 2015, the price increased by around 50% during the month. Moving from around $300 to $450 per Bitcoin at the beginning of 2016. The next December saw the price increase by more than a third, opening at around $750 and ending the month over $1,000.
While this December has not yet seen the Bitcoin price either delight or truly devastate investors in the way previous ones have, there is still time. However, with just two full weeks left of the year, the next 14 days would have to be particularly dramatic, even for Bitcoin, to see the December all-time highs or bearish bottoms similar to the past two years.