Hype Or Humor: How Bullish Is The Cryptocurrency Market?

When everything is bullish, nothing is.

Bitcoin has been on the tip of just about everybody’s tongue recently. From the CEO of Goldman Sachs to the President of the United States of America, the price of Bitcoin might not be skyrocketing as one would’ve hoped, but curiosity is certainly peaking.

The main harbinger of this ‘Bitcoin 101’ craze is undoubtedly Libra, the cryptocurrency project by Facebook that seems to be hitting roadblocks after roadblocks. Unveiled in June, Libra has positioned the regulatory spotlight firmly on Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market, with the price responding.

Libra was seen as a potential catalyst for the cryptocurrency industry, owing to Facebook’s giant customer base. In fact, many Bitcoin-enthusiasts saw it as a bridge from the centralized to the decentralized.

However, as more and more eyes drew towards Libra, curiosity turned to anxiety, and then to panic. What followed was a series of vocal attacks on not just Libra, but the entire cryptocurrency market, by the Federal Reserve Chair, POTUS and the Treasury Secretary.

Bitcoin dropped over $1,500 in price following Jerome Powell’s comments before the Congressional Committee, and the wait for Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary’s press briefing shaved another $1,000. On the other hand, POTUS’s tweets resulted in no significant price movement.

Now, the price of Bitcoin stands on the cusp of either falling down to a four-figure mark or, another surge towards its ATH. With the regulatory and administrative ‘hype’ around Bitcoin soaring, what will be the effect on the price charts?

Thomas Lee decided to take a stab at this question. The Bitcoin bull [emphasis on bull] predicted a ‘Trump Pump,’ following Donald Trump’s comments about Bitcoin. Fundstrat’s Head of Research stated that Bitcoin could rise as high as $40,000 by the close of 2019, a 280x price increase in the next 5 months. Hence, the emphasis on ‘bull.’

In response to Morgan Creek Digital’s Jason Williams who charted Bitcoin with respect to the “Trump Pump,” Lee called the market correction a “healthy” one.

Bitcoin search traffic has also been on a decline, with two distinct peaks at the close of May and June, with deep valleys in between. Interestingly, despite mainstream media coverage during hearings and advertisement on Trump’s Twitter feed, the search queries didn’t light up, while the price took a hit.

Lee took this as a “good sign.” According to his calculated estimates, the price rise is devoid of any “massive hype.” It could be presumed that the rise is not a result of fledgling investors chancing at the cryptocurrency industry and points to a more methodical move within the space.

The Fundstrat executive stated,

It’s healthy to see #bitcoin pullback here.

As for the search traffic for bitcoin being low, I also think that is a good sign. It means the rise in bitcoin has not been accompanied by massive hype.

— Thomas Lee (@fundstrat) July 14, 2019

Sniffing out the bulls seems to be Thomas Lee’s superpower, but if that’s the case, he must be using it too often. The Bitcoin Bull has been so much of an ardent supporter of the industry and its price prospects, he seems to get a little carried away. Early last year, he predicted that Bitcoin would top-out at $25,000 by the end of 2018, changing it to $20,000 in July as the price shaved over $10,000.

Bitcoin closed 2018 at just under $3,800.

Because of this “it’s always bullish in crypto-land” nature of Thomas Lee, certain crypto-skeptics decided to take the issue up with him, making for an interesting Twitter thread, if nothing else.

Peter Schiff was one such skeptic. The outspoken advocate of ‘real over digital gold’ hit back at Thomas Lee, calling out his search-versus-price correlation. He stated that if searches were up, Lee would still conclude it to be a “good sign” and since it isn’t, the signs point to a scarcity of buyers.

The Gold-Guru stated,

Every sign is bullish according to you. If searches were up you would say that was a good sign. Fewer searches shows that new buyers are scarce. Existing speculators pressing their bets, many using leverage, have pushed prices up. But without new buyers prices will collapse.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) July 15, 2019

Regardless of the effect search queries have on the price of Bitcoin and whether the absence of the same does point to genuine interest over mere speculation, the evergreen bullishness of Thomas Lee is great to see. He gives us hope, that no matter how down in the bears you are, there is always hope, no matter how deeply red the price charts are, a soaring green candlestick can always rise and break resistance after resistance and take the market to a new all-time high.

Peter Schiff however, is not convinced.

It’s only conceived in your mind, and in the minds of others so blinded by greed that they can’t see their own foolishness.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) July 15, 2019