All-Time High in 3 Major Exchanges
Bitcoin’s price hit an all-time record high in 3 major exchanges: Kraken ($19,660), Bitstamp ($19,666) and Binance ($19,798). Due to its decentralized nature, all exchanges trade at different prices. Price stays within a tight range due to arbitragers bringing the market into an equilibrium. Bitcoin had a 24-hour range of $18k-$19.8k, while being above its 10- and 50-day moving averages.
Retail investors have been a great help in keeping prices high as Zac Prince, CEO of BlockFi said: “Balances on our retail accounts have grown over 25% in the last 30 days, compared to just under 10% for institutional”. Many spot exchanges, where retail customers usually buy, have seen a daily volume uptick.
Although this run is a bit more sustainable due to institutional buyers in North America, we still see volatile times ahead. The inflows into exchanges continues to go up as prices stay within the $18k–$19k range. This on-chain metric could indicate a short-term bearish trend as selling pressure accumulates.
The activity is another sign that this market is not what it was 3 years ago. Retail investors were the main reason for the 2017–2018 bull run while institutional investors are driving the market this time around. These big buyers tend to have stronger hands as they’re more discipled with their strategy. They’re also less reluctant to take out a mortgage to buy more bitcoin since they’re only putting in a small percentage of their free cash.
