The price of Bitcoin (BTC) fell to a low of $53,600 on Coinbase on July 5, marking the first time the coin has traded at this price since February of this year. Analysts fear the worst is yet to come.
According to data from TradingView, Bitcoin’s price has since stabilized and stood at $54,122 at the time of publication.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert said much of the sell-off can be traced back to fears stemming from creditor repayments to Mt. Gox, which will see around $8 billion worth of BTC enter the market starting this month.
After the sudden drop to the $53,600 level, Gilbert expects a worsening price trend for Bitcoin in the coming days.
“The news flow is much more pessimistic than optimistic at the moment and the selling activity we are seeing is clearly worrying investors, which often leads to more selling,” Gilbert said.
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“There will be weakness in the short term until we get a catalyst to push the price higher, and that could come in the form of investors ‘buying the dip’ or an ETH ETF approval to improve sentiment,” he added.
Swyftx analyst Pav Hundal told Cointelegraph that Bitcoin’s worst price moves may be yet to come.
“A huge wall of Bitcoin is about to meet a market that was already apathetic. Long-term macro conditions are still positive, but in the short term we could test 50k and possibly lower. $52k is a major battleground for bears and bulls right now,” Hundal said.
Related: Bitcoin traders express optimism even as BTC price targets move lower
Analysts at 10x Research also predicted a continued decline, which could see Bitcoin’s price drop as low as $50,000 in the coming weeks. They warned that the selling “could accelerate as support is broken and sellers rush to find liquidity.”
Reasons to be optimistic about Bitcoin
Despite the negative near-term outlook, Gilbert said there are also reasons for investors to remain optimistic about the longer term.
“We are looking at catalysts such as the Federal Reserve cutting rates in September, with the possibility of another cut in December to boost prices.”
“Furthermore, full acceptance of an Ethereum ETF by the SEC, with a launch date in July, would be a major boost to the crypto market,” he added.
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