Bitcoin seems to have lost its luster. The top cryptocurrency has remained in a narrow band in the past months, fluctuating from $7,000 to $9,000 - and creeping higher or lower at times, but never for long.
Compared to its amazing rise two years ago, the digital money market now looks sleepy when the price of Bitcoin vaulted to $20,000. The heights are not as impressive, and the falls are not as low as they are. Booms and bust have also become less frequent.
"The overall digital currency markets tend to be event-driven, and there has been no news in recent months to bring rates going meaningfully," CoinList president Andy Bromberg, told Quartz in an interview. His business received $10 million in October to expand his startup venture.
For his part, Bromberg claims that a new phase is entering the market. "What's important is that Bitcoin is becoming less associated with the rest of the virtual currency market, an indication of how much greater its story, price, and appeal are growing," he said.
Boring story
Based on Bromberg's observations, there is a reasonable chance that the next time the market shifts, "it will be either bitcoin or the rest of it and not both."
But even now, that's as convincing as the expectations are. There is not much going on for traditional stakeholders. What is clear today, according to Bromberg, is this: Bitcoin has become quite a boring narrative.
Between January and March, the price of bitcoin also stalled and floundered in the mid-$3,000 region for nearly three months.
A revival of sorts finally took place recently after Facebook revealed plans for Libra, its own digital currency. The plan, however, seems unlikely to roll out on schedule.
Decent ROI
So, where does that leave crypto advocates? In a period when the S&P 500 has generated a 20 perecnt year-to-date return, bitcoin has rewarded market speculators with a 90 percent return on investment.
2019 has not been a most successful year for bitcoin, but it hasn't been a "stagnation", either, analysts said. Instead, this year has been unpredictable in many ways - and at certain moments, it's been surprisingly stable.
It would be too ebullient to term this a rejuvenation, but the Bitcoin market has once again displayed signs of life. If anything, 2019 proved which digital currency is neither saver nor killer of wealth. Bitcoin only continued as other blockchain ventures failed. For crypto traders, that should be reassuring enough.
