As another eventful week in the macroeconomic climate draws to a close, let’s take a look at the cryptocurrency landscape before everyone breathes a sigh of relief over the weekend.
Bitcoin
Source: IntoTheBlock
This week Bitcoin reached a notable milestone: net outflows from exchanges surpassed the one-billion-dollar mark, as shown in the chart above. Net outflows are a key sentiment indicator and typically signal accumulation, while net inflows often suggest selling pressure.
Price-wise, we “closed” last Friday around $39,200 and have since risen to about $40,700. As for volatility, the 30-day annualized standard deviation remained relatively stable at roughly 63%. That figure is visible in the chart below, but in plain terms, Bitcoin was calm this week. While the broader world seemed tumultuous, Bitcoin held up rather well.
Source: IntoTheBlock
Addresses
Address metrics also improved modestly: new addresses increased by 11% since last week. Active addresses stayed broadly flat with a small 3% uptick, and addresses with zero balance decreased by 2%. Overall, it was a steady, unspectacular week for Bitcoin. If every week were like this, it might feel a bit like holding traditional stocks — quiet and low-drama. Maybe next week will bring more movement and make these updates a bit more exciting.
Source: IntoTheBlock
Ethereum
Now let’s turn to Ethereum and examine recent trends.
Ethereum also recorded notable net outflows: nearly one billion dollars left exchanges over the past week. Wednesday accounted for a large portion of that, with $448 million in net outflows. In dollar terms that ranks as the 24th largest daily outflow in history and the second largest so far this year.
Source: IntoTheBlock
One might wonder whether a comparable precedent occurred on January 4, 2022 — the date sometimes dubbed “Blue Monday,” an allegedly gloomy day tied to returning to work after the holidays. Apparently this year some people logged on to move crypto gifts into cold storage. Unfortunately, within the next four days Ethereum fell about 21%, so it’s worth hoping that was an isolated episode rather than a looming pattern.
It’s unclear what exactly triggered the large outflow on Wednesday, given limited accompanying activity elsewhere. Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe someone simply wanted to convert ETH into cash before St. Patrick’s Day — who knows?
Measured in ETH, Wednesday represented the biggest single-day withdrawal since October of last year, at nearly 180,000 ETH. In October, Ethereum behaved differently, rising roughly 14% in just over a week. Still, the October withdrawal totaled about 750,000 ETH — more than four times the size of this week’s outflow. The chart below compares this week’s movement to October of last year and overlays price action (black line). Be cautious about drawing sweeping conclusions from a single datapoint.
Source: IntoTheBlock
To close out the week, it’s worth noting that Bitcoin largely led the market and cryptocurrencies broadly followed. It was a pleasant week without excessive volatility — the kind of calm that would lower anyone’s heart rate. Then again, perhaps life would be less exciting without the occasional spike and dip.
When the next red-candle days arrive, I’ll likely look back at quiet weeks like this one with some green-hued envy. In crypto, things can always get worse — and sometimes better. Have a good weekend!