Decentral Block Post

2022 was a near-unprecedented year of extremes and black swan events for the crypto market, and now that the year is about to wrap up, analysts are reflecting on the lessons learned and attempting to identify the trends which may point to bullish price action in 2023. 

The collapse of Terra Luna, Three Arrows Capital and FTX created a credit crunch, a severe reduction in capital inflows and an increased threat that additional major centralized exchanges could collapse.

Despite the severity of the market downturn, a few positives have emerged. Data shows long-term hodlers and smaller-sized wallets are actively accumulating during this period of low volatility.

While the market continues to see red, positives are emerging.

Let’s dive in on the positive and negative data points.

Bitcoin (BTC) failed to break above the $17,250 resistance on Dec. 11 and subsequently faced a 2.2% correction. More importantly, the last daily close above this level was over 30 days ago — reinforcing the thesis of size sellers near the $330 billion market capitalization mark.

Curiously, this valuation level is slightly behind Palladium, the world's 23rd most valuable traded asset with a $342 billion capitalization. So from one side, Bitcoin bulls have some reasons to celebrate because the price recovered 10% from the $15,500 low on Nov. 21, but bears still have the upper hand on a larger time frame since BTC is down 64% year-to-date.

Two events are expected to determine traditional finance investors' fate, as the United States consumer price index is expected onDec. 13 and U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will announce the size of the next interest rate hike on Dec. 14. Powell’s press conference will also be anxiously awaited by investors.

In the cryptocurrency markets, there is mild relief stemming from exchanges' proof of reserves, although several analysts have criticized the limited details of each report.

Derivatives exchange Bybit was the latest addition to the transparency initiative, allowing users to self-verify their deposits using Merkle Trees, according to a Dec. 12 announcement.

Bitcoin (BTC) stayed steady near $17,000 at the Dec. 12 Wall Street open as news involving Binance failed to spark BTC price downside.

Factors line up to "scare" Bitcoin trade

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD avoiding fresh volatility as United States markets opened.

Having traded sideways throughout the weekend, the pair offered few cues to analysts, who were waiting for U.S. macroeconomic data to shake up the status quo.

This, in the form of the November Consumer Price Index (CPI) print, would nonetheless be a pivotal moment for crypto assets, they agreed, with the potential for significant upside and downside hinging on the numbers, due Dec. 13.

Subsequent events involving the Federal Reserve would equally shape price performance, they said.