Bitcoin has largely held on to gains made over the weekend and remains almost 25% higher than it was trading late last week. A number of industry observers have been typically disparaging, calling it a manipulated pump and dump but as yet markets are holding steady.
Bitcoin Predicted Pullback
After any huge surge, there will be a pullback, price does not move in a straight line and these dips are expected. Charts by Tradingview.com show that BTC made another move towards five figures yesterday but resistance was too strong there.
BTC subsequently moved back into the mid-$9,000 range but a larger red candle a few hours ago dropped prices to $9,200. Bitcoin is currently trading just above this at [coin_price].
All losses this month have now been recovered and BTC appears to be back in bullish territory. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee pointed out that there have been a lot of positive signals over the past few days, adding;
A lot of ‘signal’ past few days in crypto and #bitcoin … Interim ‘risk-off’ ended, and bull market resumes.
A lot of ‘signal’ past few days in crypto and #bitcoin
– China (friendly policy)
– New ATH S&P 500 (positive)
– Bitcoin Misery Index bottomed 10/24 at 36 and rebounding (positive)
– Massive price gain on $BTC friday (signal)
Interim ‘risk-off’ ended, and bull market resumes.
— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) October 28, 2019
While the ‘China effect’ does not directly relate to Bitcoin since it is still banned there, it is positive for the industry in general. Major global players are now looking at blockchain and cryptography which will raise awareness of decentralized digital assets.
Whale Manipulation or Sour Grapes?
Others are not convinced, such as gold bug Peter Schiff who has recently warmed a little on bitcoin. Schiff claims that China had nothing to do with the rally and it was just whales manipulating prices.
Bitcoin’s recent sharp rally likely had nothing to do with China, or any fundamental factor. It clearly looks like market manipulation by whales looking to sucker in momentum buyers. By pumping up a technically weak market, they are able to dump more #Bitcoin at higher prices.
Bitcoin’s recent sharp rally likely had nothing to do with China, or any fundamental factor. It clearly looks like market manipulation by whales looking to sucker in momentum buyers. By pumping up a technically weak market, they are able to dump more #Bitcoin at higher prices.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) October 28, 2019
The comment attracted a lot of responses as usual with a collection of juvenile memes that really only serve to detract from the space. The most balanced response came from co-creator of Unity Protocol, Joshua D. Tobkin, who stated;
I actually think it’s not that they are dumping at higher prices. Actually imho whales are manipulating, dumping and then snatching it up again. I believe it is an accumulation technique actually, not the other way around.
Re-buying at lower prices after selling higher is a good way to accumulate more BTC without injecting more fiat. The fact that nearly every Chinese based altcoin surged even higher than BTC and blockchain stocks are pumping today still points the finger at the red dragon as the catalyst.
Either way, over $50 billion went into crypto markets over the past few days and most of it is still there so the dump hasn’t materialized just yet.
Was the bitcoin rally manipulated by whales? Add your thoughts below.
Images via Bitcoinist Media Library, BTC/USD Charts by TradingView, Twitter: @fundstrat, @PeterSchiff
