Bitcoin’s daily trade volumes are on the rise reaching a year high of $11 billion on Friday, March 15th. These numbers have not been witnessed since April 25th, 2018, close to a year now.
The main difference between the two dates is the price gap. Back on April 25th, Bitcoin averaged about $8,500 according to Coinmarketcap but the price now is less than half that figure. At press time, the price of Bitcoin is a little over $4,000. The current scenario could portend a bullish sign despite the depressed price because the trade volume has been increasing over the past few months. And in comparison to the April 25th numbers, even though the price of the asset is less than half, the trade volume has been matched.
Interestingly, the Bitcoin trade volume has been tracking the price of Bitcoin for several years but drew a divergence at the onset of the crypto winter back in November 2018. Bitcoin, which was trading at averagely $6,300 fell to a yearly low of $3,200 between November 15th, and December 15th, 2018. The transaction volume did not follow that trend and instead continued rising. There was a notable spike on November 15th through 16th on the trade volumes probably due to the overwhelming sell orders witnessed during this period but it leveled back and continued rising gradually.
This trend by Bitcoin has also been replicated across at least the top 5 major cryptocurrencies by market cap and especially so for Litecoin, the ‘digital silver to Bitcoin’s gold’. Back in November, Litecoin was trading at averagely $50 right before the plunge on the 15th. Its trade volume was recorded at about $300 million, a figure that spiked on the 15th to more than double that at over $700 million. The volume recovered its previous levels almost immediately but has since been on the rise reaching a peak of close to $2.5 billion on March 6th. According to the above figures, the Litecoin trade volume has risen more than 7 times over the past three months but the price, which is currently $61, has risen by a mere 22%, a clear divergence from the volume metrics.
Similarly, bitcoin trade volume has risen by 144% since the onset of the crypto winter but the price is yet to recover its lost value. The price has gained about 25% from its 2018 lows experienced in December.
