[Bitcoin Tangents:] "Sideways To Down" Characterizes Thinly Traded Markets, Like This Crypto-Winter '22-'23

The point is pretty simple: a relatively moderate bet, in a market that is experiencing thinning volume, will cause exaggerated price moves, which in turn will lead to another sizable bet, which then causes more price swing action. . . and that becomes an echoing saw-tooth sideways pattern, in a defined band.

The supply / demand push-me / pull-you. . . has been known forever.

The "new" is that people now (lately) call it a "Bart Simpson" pattern (after his saw-tooth head top).

So, Coindesk describes what is happening in Bitcoin now as a range between $42,000 and $32,000, near term:

. . .The cryptocurrency has recently seen multiple bull failures above $42,000. The latest from today's Asian session likely resulted from the activity of market makers -- entities quoting both a buy and a sell price in a tradable asset held in inventory satisfy the market.

"In sluggish and bearish markets, market makers have a tendency to be systematically short the market, i.e. they are outright selling on exchange and/or sell the futures," Laurent Kssis, a crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) expert and director of CEC Capital said.

"If a spike like we've seen this a.m. occurs, then there is a risk the exchanges will call for more margin and hence [market makers] risk being liquidated. To avoid that, market makers push the market down, [perhaps by shorting the cryptocurrency in the spot or futures market]," Kssis added.

Broadly speaking, trading activity has cooled in recent weeks, as evidenced by the declining trending in daily trading volumes on major exchanges. As such, relatively smaller trade sizes can have a notable impact on the market. . . .

All of which means these silly five or six per cent pops in miners like Riot and Marathon. . . (on a given day) won't last.

They are fundamentally range bound by... Bitcoin spot pricing. And that is... high volatility, with sideways to down being the rule -- through the end of 2022, at least.

Onward, grinning. . . with a touch o' the green returning, here -- after a two year COVID-19 induced hiatus.

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