Bitcoin halts swing from frenzy to apathy

The words “bitcoin” and “boring” have rarely been uttered in the same breath.

But after a dizzying rally, a gut-wrenching crash and near-constant ups and downs over the past two years, the cryptocurrency did something strange in recent weeks: it stayed relatively still.

Bitcoin has traded in a $732 (Dh2,688) range since September 7, swinging no more than 12 per cent from peak to trough, according to Bitstamp prices compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the narrowest trading band for any rolling 28-day period since December 2016, and well short of the 200 per cent range during the height of crypto-mania in late 2017.

Bulls see the calm as evidence of a maturing market. But for Stephen Innes, head of Asia Pacific trading at Oanda Corp, it suggests investors may be losing interest in cryptocurrencies after a more than $600 billion sell-off since the start of 2018. While the slump has been interspersed with several market rallies, they’ve gotten smaller and smaller as the year has progressed.

“It’s not that exciting anymore,” Innes said.

At least some of the speculative cash that was in cryptocurrencies has probably moved into other trendy bets, Innes said.