Bitcoin's Tipping Point: Gauging Market Direction with STH Behavior and Macro Forces
A Synthesis of On-Chain Signals, Price Patterns, Derivative Market Trends, and Global Economic Indicators Shaping Bitcoin's Investment Landscape
Bottom Line Up Front
On-chain metrics for Bitcoin suggest strong hodling, while the price metric's bullish moving averages indicate sustained market confidence across timeframes. The derivatives market implies short-term caution with a spike in the Perps Funding Rate, yet a medium-term bullish outlook reflected in Futures Rolling Basis and a less negative Options Skew. Macroeconomic indicators reveal complex dynamics, with shrinking global money supplies potentially signaling a shift away from central intervention, juxtaposed against positive manufacturing PMI, hinting at economic expansion. In sum, the interplay of these factors shapes a nuanced investment landscape for Bitcoin.
Market Sentiment and Holder Behavior: Bitcoin On-Chain Metrics
The on-chain metrics provide insights into investor behavior and market sentiment. The Realized HODL Ratio has increased by 7.55% over the last 30 days, indicating a rising propensity to hodl among the average investor. The MVRV Z-Score, which assesses market value against realized value, shows a slight decrease week-over-week (WoW), suggesting bitcoin momentum is not particularly overheated. MVRV being up over 30 days indicates we are still in the bull market trend. Reserve Risk has seen a significant rise of 10.64%, implying that the confidence among long-term holders (LTH) remains strong despite the price dip, and it is still a time for bull accumulation.
A noteworthy surge in 90-Days Coin Days Destroyed by 27.80% provides evidence of long-term holder selling activity around the previous ATH. The decrease in the STH LTH Costs Basis Ratio by -21.15% also suggests that LTHs are distributing coins to STHs. Our data does not capture today’s price action unfortunately, but these data indicate relatively elevated selling from LTH.
Investor Insights
Reserve Risk for Cycle Phases: Reserve Risk is clinging onto bullish territory still, indicating we have not exited the early accumulation phase of the cycle. The risk/reward for buying bitcoin is good on the bullish side.
Coin Days Destroyed and STH LTH Costs Basis Ratio: These indicators are telling a powerful story when taken alongside the Reserve Risk. LTHs are net sellers to STHs around the previous ATH. These newly minted holders might be the last ones to get in at such and attractive risk/reward.
Integrating Price Metrics and On-Chain Data
The alignment of the moving averages—where the shortest time frame (50DMA) is the highest and the longest time frame (200DMA) is the lowest—provides a classic bullish signal in technical analysis. This arrangement is often referred to as a "bullish alignment" and suggests that the market is in a strong uptrend across multiple timeframes. It indicates not just short-term optimism but also medium- to long-term confidence among investors.
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