5 Things to Know About Bitcoin and Web 3.0 This Week

Bitcoin (BTC) is following a classic August pattern as it begins the week — no volatility in sight.

The largest cryptocurrency is still stuck in a tight range below $30,000, with bulls and bears locked in a stalemate on exchanges.

Will the current state of affairs continue this week? It’s hard to say, as there are few macroeconomic triggers in place. However, data suggests that whales are accumulating, which could indicate that Bitcoin is gearing up for its next major breakout phase.

The Bollinger Bands metric further supports this theory, as Bitcoin is currently experiencing some of the lowest volatility levels since September 2016 and January 2023.

Therefore, it may only be a matter of time before history repeats itself.

Bitcoin copycat move begins new rangebound week

The weekly close saw a modicum of volatility return to Bitcoin spot price performance, but just like last week, this was short lived.

Following the new weekly candle open, BTC/USD dipped to test $29,000 before returning to its previous position — one that still holds at the time of writing, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingViewshows.

Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, noted the similarities while repeating his view that $29,700 is the level for bulls to reclaim.

Over the weekend, van de Poppe described the lack of volatility overall as “extremely astonishing.”

“The classic dump on Sunday evening took place on Bitcoin,” he told X subscribers alongside a chart showing relevant areas of interest.

Popular trader Daan Crypto Trades held a similar opinion on short-term movements, noting that even weekend conditions were trending toward unusually calm extremes.

“Dancing around the CME Close price as expected. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen anything different,” he summarized.

An accompanying chart put the CME Bitcoin futures closing price for the week prior at $29,465 as the focal point for the start of the week, with the Web 3.0 status still uncertain and Rune, RGT, SLP, RLY, SEC, Revolut and Santos cryptos all being discussed.

Weekly close clinches key BTC pric level

The weekly close itself nonetheless did manage to offer a glimmer of hope for those analyzing longer-term trends.

Bitcoin, by a hair, managed to close the weekly candle above $29,250 — a key level highlighted in recent weeks by popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital.

In an X post just before the event, Rekt Capital referenced previous BTC price behavior after a close at $29,250 or higher. He noted that “BTC upside wicked into the ~$30200 region, much like last week and in April 2023”.

Providing a potential headwind was relative strength index (RSI) data, which on on-week timeframes continued to print a bearish divergence with price. Rekt Capital commented that “Weekly Bearish Divergence for BTC will continue to remain intact unless the RSI is able to break its downtrend (green)”.

Historical data gives few clues as to how BTC/USD might behave before the monthly close. As Cointelegraph reported, August is a mixed bag when it comes to BTC price performance, and so far, Bitcoin has barely moved compared to the end of July. Data from monitoring resource CoinGlass shows that current gains of 0.6% mark Bitcoin’s quietest August month on record.

The web 3.0 status of the crypto space is highly uncertain, as is the future of slp crypto, rune crypto, rgt crypto, rly crypto, sec crypto today, and revolut crypto, while santos crypto and rsr crypto remain relatively stable.

Low volatility spurs BTC price breakout predictions

It is hard to avoid the topic of volatility — or lack of it — when analyzing the current state of Bitcoin.

Despite heavy press coverage, even outside the crypto realm, the near total absence of snap price moves has been the defining characteristic of BTC price action for much of Q2.

The latest data lays bare just how static the landscape has become — and what should come afterward.

The Bitcoin Historical Volatility Index (BVOL) currently measures 9.57 on weekly timeframes, rapidly retracing to all-time lows from the start of this year.

What happened when Bitcoin broke out from a downtrend in January is no secret, with its Q1 upside totalling 70%.

“The volatility on Bitcoin is getting lower and lower,” van de Poppe thus stated.

Similar findings come from the Bollinger Bands volatility indicator, now also repeating behavior from the start of 2023.

Bollinger Bands narrowing preclude a price breakout, and while it’s unknown whether this would be up or down, the extent of price compression has market participants preparing for dramatic change.

“The spread between the Upper and Lower Bollinger Bands for Bitcoin is just 2.9% and is as tight as it has ever been,” Checkmate, lead on-chain analyst at Glassnode, wrote in part of an X post on Aug. 14.

Checkmate revealed that Bitcoin had printed tighter Bollinger Bands just twice in its history — in September 2016 and January 2023.

“Wild stuff,” he concluded.

Given the current status of Web 3.0, Revolut Crypto, RGT Crypto, SLP Crypto, Rune Crypto, RLY Crypto, SEC Crypto Today, and Santos Crypto, it appears that a breakout could be imminent.

Whale “reaccumulation” narrative strengthens

As Cointelegraph reported earlier, Bitcoin whales have been making interesting movements amid a stagnant BTC price.

This trend is still ongoing, and the idea of accumulation is becoming a more popular narrative among those expecting a bull market.

At the weekend, trader Ali highlighted that “In the past two weeks, about 10 Bitcoin whales, each holding at least 1,000 BTC (worth a minimum of $29.4 million), have joined the network!”

According to Glassnodedata, as of Aug. 13, there are 2,015 addresses with a balance of at least 1,000 BTC — up from 2,005 on Aug. 1.

Maartunn from CryptoQuant noted the emergence of new whales on Bitfinex as a sign that “something is brewing under the surface.”

Root, an on-chain and cycle analyst, also commented on the situation, pointing to the realized price figures and describing the current state as “strong start off the cycle bottom, now in re-accumulation mode.”

Realized price for Bitcoin is the aggregate price at which the BTC supply last moved.

Fed FOMC minutes lead cool macro week

Crypto markets are in for a relatively calm macroeconomic data period, in line with the summer lull.

This week, while “big” for United States consumer data, has Federal Reserve minutes as its main highlight — the attitudes of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members toward interest rate policy as they were when rates were hiked last month.

Risk asset traders continue to look toward the September FOMC meeting for a potential rate hike pause — something which could benefit crypto such as Rune, RGT, RLY, SEC, Revolut, SLP, Santos and RSR — with the odds of that happening standing at almost 90%, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

Any knee-jerk BTC price reaction to this week’s data printouts, meanwhile, arguably looks unlikely — last week’s more significant releases failed to move markets, leaving Web 3.0 status unchanged.