• Bitcoin price soared above $66,000, hitting a new one-month high near $67,000
• The rally liquidated short positions worth $40.83 million within four hours, with a 24-hour total wipeout of $131.65 million
• Bitcoin’s retail demand has been decreasing since its price hit all-time highs in March, suggesting the current rally is driven by institutional investors
Bitcoin‘s price surged to a new one-month high near $67,000 as a variety of bullish factors converged to push cryptocurrencies higher.
Market Update
Bitcoin climbed over $3,000 in four hours on July 19 as a fresh wave of volatility pushed the crypto market higher.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed a nightmare for short traders unfolding at the start of the weekend on July 19 with BTC/USD suddenly rising from $63,303 to $66,506. At the time of writing, the gains were still mounting after the BTC/USD pair hit an intraday high of $66,773 on Bitstamp.
New short-term highs for Bitcoin means that the recent streak of higher highs and higher lows uptrend behavior is intact, said independent Caleb Franzen reacting to Bitcoin’s sudden uptick over the last few hours. “This has been constructive price action with key breakouts above structural & dynamic levels. Bulls are increasingly regaining firm control over price.”
This week, the upside has been the focus for day traders as seller exhaustion and the failed assassination attempt on former United States President Donald Trump was followed by a run-up to just below $65,000.
Those betting on a continuation of the correction lost big on July 19, with today’s rally liquidating short positions worth $4.083 million within four hours amid a 24-hour total wipeout of $13.165 million.
Retail Demand at Three-Year Lows
MN Capital founder Michal van de Poppe spotted Bitcoin’s retail demand at three-year lows, saying that it reflects the current market sentiment.
The consistent inflows into Bitcoin investment products including spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds suggest that BTC demand has largely been from institutional investors.
Van de Poppe shared a CryptoQuant chart showing that Bitcoin’s retail demand has been decreasing since its price hit all-time highs in March. He said this is the time for this metric to turn around for Bitcoin.
Market analysts believe that the Bitcoin bull run is usually driven by retail investors who are yet to return to the market.
The real bull run typically begins with massive buying volume driven by retail investors, declared Woominkyu, a CryptoQuant author, in a July 17 post. “And we have not yet seen this volume from retail investors.”
The longer-term picture remains more than positive with analysts forecasting a Bitcoin price above $200,000 once BTC enters a parabolic uptrend.
Conclusion
This analysis shows that while Bitcoin’s price has been rising lately, retail investor demand remains low compared to previous bull runs. Institutional investors are driving current price gains. For Bitcoin to enter a true parabolic advance, analysts say greater retail participation will be needed. The coming weeks and months will determine if this materializes.
