Bitcoin has achieved its strongest quarterly returns since its November 2021 all-time high. Additionally, BTC has outperformed all other assets so far this year, with a gain of over 80% since January.
In comparison, gold has only gained 9% over the same period, the tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 has managed around 20%, while the S&P 500 has gained just 8.5%.
On April 17, Glassnode, an on-chain analytics provider, confirmed Bitcoin’s positive performance, stating:
“The strong market performance in 2023 is a stark contrast to 2022, and suggests a favorable regime shift is underway.”
Bitcoin Bulls Back in Play?
Glassnode noted that recently BTC and gold prices have been correlated due to another U.S. banking crisis. The firm also explored the possibility of a return to a full bull market.
It reported that a significant amount of BTC has returned to profit recently. In 2023, approximately 6.2 million BTC, or almost a third of the supply, has returned to profit. This indicates that there is a substantial cost basis foundation below $30k.
Is the #Bitcoin bear market over?
With a rally 100% off the lows, $BTC is trading above a very large cluster of supply, that formed the 2022 floor.
This week, we investigate indicators showing if the market making a robust bear market recovery…or not. pic.twitter.com/PKHJc7EF18
— glassnode (@glassnode) April 17, 2023
In addition, the net unrealized profit/loss (NUPL) metric is currently neutral, indicating that BTC is not oversold (as it was below $20k) or over-bought (as in over $50k).
“This is coincident with past cycles where a transition between a bear and bull markets have taken place.”
Furthermore, Bitcoin hodlers with coins older than three months appear to be unwilling to sell, even with BTC’s rally to $30k.
Glassnode concluded that several on-chain indicators are suggesting that “bear market conditions, or at least the worst of it, may now be behind us.”
Crypto Market Cools
Despite its bullish performance, Bitcoin has experienced a 1.8% slip to trade at $29,464 at the time of writing. This drop comes after heavy resistance at the $30,000 level. While BTC has gained 9% over the past month, it may experience a pullback, possibly revisiting the support level around $28,000 in the coming week. Total market capitalization is down 1.2% to $1.3 trillion, according to CoinGecko.
