Bitcoin Confronts Uncertainty Amid Declines in Two Vital Areas
Following a brief period of positivity earlier in December, Bitcoin [BTC] has struggled to sustain its upward momentum, slipping below the $100,000 threshold and remaining stagnant over recent weeks.
The cryptocurrency has experienced minimal upward movement, with its current price sitting at $92,790, marking a 13.2% decrease over the past fortnight.
At its current level, Bitcoin is trading 14.2% lower than its peak of $108,135 reached in December.
This lackluster performance has sparked worries among market participants, with both trading volume and retail interest showing visible declines.
One of the main contributors to this subdued performance is the sharp decline in Bitcoin trading volume on Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange.
Over the last week, trading activity on both spot and Futures BTC/USDT pairs has significantly fallen.
Conflicting Signals from Retail Engagement
Besides trading volume, other crucial Bitcoin indicators shed light on the current market condition of the digital asset.
Data from Coinglass indicates that Bitcoin’s Open Interest—a metric representing the total value of outstanding futures contracts—has dropped by 2.58% to about $57.66 billion.
This decline signals diminishing interest from Futures traders, often interpreted as a reduction in speculative activity.
On the contrary, Bitcoin’s Open Interest volume has surged by 71.7%, now standing at $109.92 billion.
This increase suggests that although fewer traders are actively participating, those who are still engaged in the market are taking larger positions, potentially indicating confidence in future price movements.
Looking ahead, Bitcoin’s active address count provides insights into retail involvement and on-chain activity. Active addresses represent the number of unique Bitcoin addresses involved in transactions on a specific day.
Earlier in December, active addresses hit a low of 787,000 before rising to 984,000 on the 10th of December.
Nevertheless, activity declined again to 700,000 by December 25th before showing a slight recovery to 826,000 as of December 30th.
This trend highlights inconsistent retail interest, characterized by brief spikes in activity followed by sharp drops.
Such fluctuations indicate a lack of sustained retail momentum, a vital element for propelling Bitcoin’s price upwards during bullish periods.