Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a sharp correction on Feb. 20, sinking as much as 4% from an intra-day high of $53,019 to a low of $50,812, threatening to wipe out the gains of the past seven days.
This pull-back led traders to re-evaluate the general condition of the crypto market, initiating a debate on whether the altcoin season (altseason) is here.
BTC/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView
What’s behind the Bitcoin price pull-back?
Traders and market analysts believe the ongoing price crash is a part of the 5 phases of the Bitcoin halving cycle and that BTC might be experiencing a pre-halving retrace before entering a widely expected post-halving parabolic uptrend.
Crypto trader and analyst Rekt Capital shared the following chart in a Feb. 15 post on X saying that Bitcoin has “one last Pre-Halving Retrace left” before resuming the uptrend.
#BTC
There is only one last Pre-Halving Retrace left (dark blue circle)$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/Q6qF1ieEEL
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) February 15, 2024
Independent market analyst Sjuul noted funding rates were high for BTC warning traders to “expect some correction across the board.”
“In my opinion, it’s the buy-the-dip opportunity we are all looking for.”
Market intelligence firm Santiment pointed out significant moves in “mid-tier traders often work as excellent signals for” profit taking and “dip buys.”
“In the past 2 weeks, #stablecoin holders with $10K to $100K: Added $44.3M in $USDT.”
This is an indication that they could be getting ready to buy the dip in case of a pullback.
USDC and USDT 10K-100K supply holdings. Source: Santiment
Bitcoin versus altcoins
Altcoins have displayed great performance over the last 12 months, posting double and triple-digit gains, with some outperforming Bitcoin. Some of them have demonstrated better performance on shorter timeframes.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin has rallied 107% over the last 12 months, Solana (SOL) has gained 308%, Avalanche’s AVAX 80%, and Chainlink’s (LINK) 136%.
The latest data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode shows that while “BTC and ETH are leading the pack,…
..
