Bitcoin wants to break up with stock markets after months of sobbing and temper outbursts
Cryptocurrency is making one of its most determined attempts to separate from the tech stocks that have dominated its turbulent 2022.
The 30-day correlation between it and the Nasdaq (.IXIC), where a value of 1 implies that the two assets are moving in unison, dropped to 0.26 last week, the lowest level since early January.
The correlation, which measures how well the two move in unison over a 30-day period, has been above 0.75 for the majority of the year and occasionally has been close to perfect unanimity, reaching 0.96 and 0.93 in May and September, respectively.
Any separation of Bitcoin from Big Tech is seen as a sign of strength by some crypto supporters.
A year after the young cryptocurrency started its epic slide from the dizzying heights of $69,000 achieved in November last year, the fledgling uncoupling does actually coincide with a period of comparative quiet and consolidation.
In spite of the Nasdaq’s 2% increase last week due to gloomy quarterly results from Microsoft, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Meta (NASDAQ:META), and Amazon, Bitcoin is currently trading at one-month highs above $20,500.
According to CoinMarketCap.com, the overall market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has decreased by more than two-thirds to $984 billion from above $3 trillion in November 2021.
Data from CryptoCompare reveals that market activity has decreased as well, with the average daily trading volume of digital asset goods falling to $61.3 million as of October 25 from daily volumes of almost $700 million recorded in November last year.
However, despite a dismal economic climate, months of repeated selling have not been able to shake off the experienced players, who are digging in.
According to blockchain analytics company Glassnode, the dollar wealth held in bitcoins that haven’t been moved in three months or longer is at an all-time high, indicating accumulation by long-term investors or “HODLers”. Years ago, a trader’s misspelling of “hold” on an internet forum gave rise to the name of that group of fervent cryptocurrency investors.
Furthermore, analytics site CryptoQuant revealed that a record 55,000 bitcoin were withdrawn from the biggest exchange Binance on October 26. Flows like this often indicate that coins are going to wallets for longer-term safekeeping.
According to Stéphane Ouellette, CEO of cryptocurrency derivatives provider FRNT Financial, “the holder base of BTC has changed drastically from being heavily weighted towards speculators, which largely came in in 2021, to the near-cult-like “HODLer” community who would not sell their BTC in almost any macro circumstance.”
“The market is now waiting for further confirmation of the risk asset/BTC link breakdown at the Fed meeting next week.”
Featured Image- Pixabay @ photographersupreme
Author Valerie Remorosa 
