Bitcoin Price Holds Above $7.1K as Trader Eyes Q1 2020 Bottom Forming

Bitcoin continued trading sideways on Dec. 27 after spending the Christmas period broadly free of volatility.

As 2019 draws to a close, traders appeared calm - serious movements, they suggested, would be confined to later Q1 next year.

For regular Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, that time would come in either January or February, when Bitcoin should put in a new low in USD terms.

"January - February 2020 bottom formation," he summarized in a tweet on Christmas Day.

"Two years ago it moved from $12,100 to $15,500 between 24-26 December. That's a hectic Christmas. This is relaxing."

If the high marked "Mania" among investors, then two years later, they had battled "Despair" as Bitcoin dropped significantly, and were now returning to the "Mean" from before the 2017 run-up.

The basis for the hypothesis, he stated, was various sources claiming they wished to trade equity markets, which signaled a lack of interest in cryptocurrencies.

Altcoins predictably stayed motionless on Friday as Bitcoin set the tone for uninspiring trading conditions.

Ether, the largest altcoin by market cap, hardly gained or lost on the day, continuing at $125. Similar behavior characterized other major altcoins, with the exception of Ethereum Classic, which gained 9.5% on fresh news about its upcoming hard fork.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap was $191.2 billion, with Bitcoin's share at 68.7%.Keep track of top crypto markets in real time here.