Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies edged higher Thursday but continue to languish in a well-established trading range. The upside: Cryptos are on track to beat history by ending September—historically the worst month for digital assets—in the green.
The price of
Bitcoin
has risen 0.5% over the past 24 hours to $26,375, with the largest digital asset remaining in the heart of the $26,000 zone that has provided support for much of the past month. Bitcoin has been in one of its most stagnant periods on record since the summer, with historically low volatility and trading volumes amid waning investor interest in digital assets.
“We maintain a short-term neutral bias, with the 50-day moving average intact and a minor loss of momentum,” said Katie Stockton, managing partner at technical research firm Fairlead Strategies. “We remain long-term neutral on Bitcoin.”
This neutral stance characterizes wider sentiment on cryptos, which have lagged the recent excitement in the stock market, where the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
and
S&P 500
have moved amid macroeconomic catalysts that also are relevant to Bitcoin.
A lack of volatility long term is likely to be bad for digital assets, which have historically attracted traders drawn to the rollercoaster nature of cryptos.
In the short term, boring Bitcoin is on track to make history this month, with the token poised to end September with gains. Bitcoin closed out August with a 5 p.m. Eastern level just shy of $26,000, according to Dow Jones Market Data, and unless rare volatility hits it between now and Sunday, it is likely to close the month in the green. It’s a milestone: Bitcoin has fallen in each of the past six Septembers, and has averaged a decline of 6% in each September on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
“Bitcoin and the rest of the digital asset market have shown resilience of late, and especially as equities have fallen sharply in comparison,” said Richard Mico, U.S. CEO of crypto payment and compliance infrastructure group Banxa. “Bitcoin is slightly up for the month. This bodes very well for Q4 of this year, particularly for October, which is usually a very bullish month.”
Beyond Bitcoin,
Ether
—the second-largest crypto—gained more than 1% to $1,620. Smaller tokens or altcoins were more muted, with
Cardano
flat and
Polygon
down less than 1%. Memcoins were more upbeat, with
Dogecoin
and
Shiba Inu
both less than 1% in the green.
Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@barrons.com
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