Market Wrap: Bitcoin Drops Below $19K Amid Ongoing Volatility

Bitcoin and ether both traded lower on Friday following Thursday’s mild increase. Both digital assets continue to trade sideways, as they lack a substantive catalyst to push prices higher.

The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI), a broad-based market index that measures performance across a basket of cryptocurrencies, fell 2.79% on the day.

Economic Calendar: The economic calendar was light today, but there were a couple of items worth considering.

The private sector business activity continues to contract, but not at the rate that was expected. The S&P Global U.S. Composite PMI, which tracks data from manufacturing and service companies, was 49.3 in September. Readings above 50 indicate an expansion of business, while readings below 50 indicate a contraction.

September’s reading was higher than August’s reading of 44, and above expectations for 48. Ironically, business expansion is not ideal for risk assets at the moment, as it will likely prolong the Federal Reserve’s current fight against inflation.

U.S. Equities: Traditional equities declined, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 480 points, a 1.6% drop that sent the index to its lowest point of the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 both slipped about 2%.

Commodities: Energy sold off as well, with West Texas Intermediate crude oil falling 5.4%. Natural gas declined 3.4%, while European Brent crude and gasoline (RBOB) fell 4.4% and 4.7%, respectively. Despite its safe-haven reputation, gold fell 1.8%. Copper, used as a barometer of economic conditions, decreased 3.6%.

The dollar index (DXY) was stronger, increasing 1.18% and at one point changing hands at 113.23, a 20-year high.

The USD Continues to Offer the Clearest Signal on BTC Prices

The macroeconomic narrative saturating every pore of crypto-asset markets is difficult to ignore.

With the Federal Reserve trying to stave off inflation by raising interest rates and reducing the size of its $8 trillion balance sheet, risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, will continue to come under pressure.

As interest rates increase, holding the U.S. dollar becomes more attractive because of rising yields. Speaking on Friday’s First Mover program, CoinDesk’s Lawrence Lewitinn likened the current bid behind the dollar to investors who purchased UST in search of higher yield.

The correlative or causative relationship between the two assets remains unclear, but also cannot be easily ignored.

For starters, bitcoin and the U.S. dollar index have an almost completely inverse relationship currently. As recently as November 2021, the opposite could be said as BTC and DXY prices moved relatively in tandem.

Ultimately, the relationship appears to be between BTC and an increase in a risk-on appetite, with the impact occurring via the relationship between BTC and the U.S. dollar. Given the on- again/off-again relationship between the two assets, traders will likely be watching for correlations to shift again.

On a technical basis, BTC appears to be trading near fair value as mentioned in Wednesday’s Market Wrap. Bitcoin’s weekly chart going back to July 2021 shows an asset trading near an area of significant price agreement.

Absent a new bullish catalyst, there doesn’t appear to be much incentive for investors to push prices higher at the moment.

Derivatives markets show some appetite for risk, but little that counters a “neutral for now” narrative. Looking at Glassnode’s BTC open interest by strike price chart, there appears to be elevated put buying at the $18,000 strike price.

A put option represents the right but not the obligation to sell an asset at a specific price. Were bitcoin prices to fall below $18,000, those put options would likely be exercised, putting additional downside pressure on the markets.

Call option purchases (i.e. the right but not the obligation to buy) begin to increase at the $19,500 strike price, a 4% premium to current prices.

Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) is a broad-based index designed to measure the market capitalization weighted performance of the digital asset market subject to minimum trading and exchange eligibility requirements.