$28,000 Bitcoin is in the cards, but it won’t happen without a struggle

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price declined for 8 consecutive days until May 13, totaling a 9.4% correction. The last time such a losing streak happened was on June 14, 2022, after the Celsius lending platform halted withdrawals and FUD emerged from U.S. software firm MicroStrategy’s loan being liquidated at $21,000.

Nothing remotely similar happened as Bitcoin retested the $25,800 support on May 12, apart from the network congestion and increased transaction fees. Traders and analysts speculated that a coordinated attack was aimed at causing network instability.

As pointed out by investor and Bitcoin activist proofofjogi, high fees likely make the network unusable for smaller players, but they also impact the use of layer-2 scaling solutions such as the Lightning Network, as opening and closing payment channels require on-chain transactions.

The current FUD is quickly losing steam

Regardless of the rationale behind the surging demand for blockchain space, by May 12, the average transaction fee had already dropped 83% to $5.10 from a $31 peak on May 7, according to Blockchain.com data. It is also worth noting that the Ethereum network’s average transaction fee held above $18 between May 5 and May 11, according to Blockchair data.

Traders now question whether Bitcoin can bounce back above $28,000 given the uncertainty on the crypto regulatory front. Bitcoin futures and options data display moderate weakness, but a BTC price rally could happen as investors price in higher odds of an U.S. government debt default.

The current high interest rate environment is beneficial for fixed-income trades, while the risks of an economic downturn negatively weigh on risky assets such as Bitcoin. Traders should be especially careful if Bitcoin futures contract premiums flip negative or if increased costs for hedging using options occur.

Bitcoin futures remain neutral despite the price correction

Bitcoin quarterly futures are popular among whales and arbitrage desks. However, these fixed-month contracts typically trade at a slight premium to spot markets, indicating that sellers are asking for more money to delay settlement.

As a result, BTC futures contracts in healthy markets should trade at a 5 to 10% annualized premium – a situation known as contango, which is not unique to crypto markets.

Bitcoin two-month futures annualized premium. Source: Laevitas

Bitcoin traders have been extremely cautious in the past two weeks. On the other hand, the BTC futures premium stood at 1% or higher even after the 12.7% 7-day correction that culminated with the $25,830 low on May 12.

Bitcoin options risk metric stood neutral

Traders should also analyze options markets to understand whether the recent correction has caused investors to become more optimistic. The 25% delta skew is a telling sign when arbitrage desks and market makers overcharge for upside or downside protection.

In short, if traders anticipate a Bitcoin price drop, the skew metric will rise above 7%, and phases of excitement tend to have a negative 7% skew.

Related: Bitcoin a top 3 asset in the event of US debt default, survey

Bitcoin 30-day options 25% delta skew. Source: Laevitas

As displayed above, according to the BTC options 25% delta skew, traders became increasingly bearish as the indicator spiked to 4% on May 11. Albeit in the neutral area, this is a stark contrast from the previous week, when the metric flirted with bullish sentiment at negative 8%.

Bitcoin options and futures markets suggest that pro traders are less confident, reducing the odds of a quick bounce above $28,000. Still, one could interpret the whole movement as bullish since the 12.7% correction was unable to flip BTC derivatives metrics from neutral to bearish.

Consequently, those betting on a bull trap, meaning a deeper Bitcoin price correction lies ahead, will likely come out disappointed.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

All Dutch and English crypto news!

Bitwise applies for Ethereum ETF; Bitbot presale gathers steam with price expected to rise to $0.0141

Bitwise applies for Ethereum ETF emphasizing spot trading but omitting staking features. Bitbot presale raises over $1.6 million, BITBOT tokens currently going at $0.0134. Next Bitbot presale...

Ethena Labs exploited for $290k on Binance Launchpool

The exploit occurred hours after Ethena’s new ENA token was launched for farming on Binance. News Own this piece of crypto history Collect this article as NFT Join us...

Bitcoin shows ‘signs of exhaustion’ as Q1 BTC price gains near 70%

While there are reasons to be "very bullish" on Q2, the sheer speed of the Bitcoin and crypto bull market may be cause for concern,...

Binance entity HKVAEX withdraws Hong Kong license application post-deadline

The SFC website confirms that HKVAEX withdrew its license application nearly three months after the filing on Jan. 4, 2024. News Own this piece of crypto history Collect...

Beste exchanges

Koop je crypto bij Bitvavo