Novogratz: Seller Fatigue Indicates Market Has Bottomed Out

Bitcoin (BTC), Cryptocurrency–Long time cryptocurrency industry figure and perennial crypto-bull Michael Novogratz, has made headlines again with his assertion that the seller fatigue indicated by current price movements shows that the market has bottomed out for Bitcoin and other popular currencies.

Led by the meteoric rise of XRP throughout the week, which at point had posted a twenty four hour price increase of 70 percent, the entire market of cryptocurrency has managed to gain nearly $30 billion to the market capitalization over the preceding seven days. Novogratz, the CEO of digital assets merchant bank Galaxy Digital, made his comments on the state of Bitcoin and crypto pricing at a Yahoo Finance event titled “All Markets Summit.” In addition to reiterating his stance on seller fatigue and the market reaching a relative bottoming out of 2018’s ongoing bear cycle, Novogratz made similar comments last week that shed positive light on the stability of BTC,

This is the BGCI chart…I think we put in a low yesterday.   retouched the highs of late last year and the point of acceleration that led to the massive rally/bubble…     markets like to retrace to the breakout..we retraced the whole of the bubble. #callingabottom

This is the BGCI chart…I think we put in a low yesterday. retouched the highs of late last year and the point of acceleration that led to the massive rally/bubble… markets like to retrace to the breakout..we retraced the whole of the bubble. #callingabottom pic.twitter.com/EasTBYgjSj

— Michael Novogratz (@novogratz) September 13, 2018

Speaking at the event, Novogratz contended that the price of Bitcoin is still a long-shot from the previous all time high of near $20,000 experienced at the end of 2017, but that the coin had exhibited resilience around the $6,000 mark building a strong base and wearing out the sellers. Novogratz also commented on his belief that institutional money is already entering into cryptocurrency investing, and may be at the heart of the price stability that the coin has exhibited over the last several weeks relative to the price throughout 2018,

“Bitcoin has held $6,000. Yes, it is off its highs, but it has established itself as a store of value…I think institutions are moving towards investing. It’s shocking how much has happened.”

While few have been able to give evidence for a bottoming out of the bearish cycle that has characterized the year, many Bitcoin and cryptocurrency bulls have held to the refrain that institutional money (i.e. Wall Street investments and other well capitalized firms across the globe) are waiting on the sideline for some small prompting to enter the market of cryptocurrency. Many had pegged the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision over a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund as the catalyst to start such a shift in the investment base.

Despite having a strong favorite for ETF approval in New York-based global investment manager VanEck, the SEC has taken a frustrating stance towards delaying decisions on the creation of the new fund. However, the crypto-markets have shown price resiliency in the face of such delays, either due to the growing sentiment that a Bitcoin ETF is inevitable–even if the SEC is going to make consumers wait as long as possible–or through a decoupling of crypto prices from the near obsession over ETF approval.

XRP, which had been showing a strong downward trend in valuation, managed to buck the narrative of the bears in a sudden reversal that saw the coin appreciate from under $0.30 to as high as $0.70 on Friday, good enough to overtake Ethereum for second place in total market capitalization, albeit briefly.