Decentral Block Post

Bitcoin (BTC) may spend the time until its next block subsidy halving battling recession, Elon Musk suggested.

In a tweet on Oct. 21, the Tesla CEO revealed his belief that the world would only exit recession in Spring 2024.

Musk: Recession will "probably" stay until Q2, 2024

After the United States entered a technical recession with its Q3 GDP data, debate continues over how much worse the scenario could get.

For Musk, while long predicting the U.S. economy would enter recession, the likelihood of a global downturn lingering is now real.

Asked on Twitter how long he considered a recession to last, the world’s richest man was noncommittal, but erred on the side of years rather than months.

Ethereum has witnessed a substantial drop in its daily active address (DAA) count over the last four months, raising fears about more downside for Ether (ETH) price in the coming weeks.

Stagnant Ethereum price spooks investors

The number of Ether DAA dropped to 152,000 on Oct. 21, its lowest level since June, according to data provided by Santiment. In other words, the plunge showed fewer unique Ethereum addresses interacting with the network.

Interestingly, the drop comes after Ether’s 80%-plus correction from its November 2021 high of around $4,850. This coincidence could mean two things: Ethereum users decided to leave the market and/or paused their interaction with the blockchain network after the market’s downturn.

Santiment analysts blamed the drop on “weak hands,” sentimental traders who drop out of the market during a bearish or stagnant phase, noting:

“Disinterest [is] at a high as [the Ethereum] prices have stagnated.”

The current crypto bear market has induced panic, fear and uncertainty in investors. The dire situation started when the global crypto market capitalization dropped below the $2 trillion mark in January 2022. Since then, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has decreased by over 70% from its all time-high of $69,044.77 it reached on November 10, 2021. Similarly, the values of other major cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX), and Dogecoin (DOGE) have decreased by around 90%. 

So does history tell us anything about when the bear market will end? Let’s start by examining the causes of the 2022 bear market.

Catalysts of the 2022 bear market

There are several factors that caused the current bear run.

First off, the build up to the bear market started in 2021. During this period many regulatory authorities threatened to introduce stringent laws governing cryptocurrencies. This created fear and uncertainty in the market. For example, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a lawsuit against Ripple. China banned bitcoin mining resulting in most BTC miners to relocate to other countries.

A global increase in inflation and rising interest rates instilled fear and uncertainty in the market resulting in lower crypto investment than expected. Although there is much publicity pertaining to the United States inflation and interest rate, other countries such as India have experienced similar challenges.

The current crypto bear market has induced panic, fear and uncertainty in investors. The dire situation started when the global crypto market capitalization dropped below the $2 trillion mark in January 2022. Since then, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has decreased by over 70% from its all-time high of $69,044.77, reached on Nov. 10, 2021. Similarly, the values of other major cryptocurrencies such as Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX) and Dogecoin (DOGE) have decreased by around 90%. 

So does history tell us anything about when the bear market will end? Let’s start by examining the causes of the 2022 bear market.

Catalysts of the 2022 bear market

There are several factors that caused the current bear run.

First off, the build-up to the bear market started in 2021. During this period, many regulatory authorities threatened to introduce stringent laws governing cryptocurrencies. This created fear and uncertainty in the market. For example, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a lawsuit against Ripple. China banned Bitcoin mining, resulting in most of its BTC miners having to relocate to other countries.

A global increase in inflation and rising interest rates instilled fear and uncertainty in the market resulting in lower crypto investment than expected. Although there is much publicity pertaining to the United States inflation and interest rate, other countries such as India have experienced similar challenges.

Bitcoin (BTC) showed no signs of a breakout on Oct. 20 as tantalizing sideways action dragged on.

Analyst: Bitcoin range "congested and critical"

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD firmly rangebound at around $19,000 overnight, moving only around $400 up or down.

United States equities opened with no significant volatility, this focused more on the United Kingdom, where the pound reacted to news that Liz Truss had resigned as Prime Minister.

Chart data circulating on social media at the time of writing showed that GBP and BTC volatility had become practically identical, the latter already in its least volatile period since 2020.

With macro triggers failing to have an impact, analysts flagged solid support and resistance levels keeping price action in check.