What Happened to Bitcoin?

What has quieted not only Bitcoin prices, but the entire cryptocurrency space in the last month?

The Chicago Merchantile Exchange announced that it would begin trading Bitcoin futures by the end of the year.

The crypto world rejoiced. The floodgates of big money were finally opening, and along with it a general acceptance of cryptos as a legit form of tangible, tradeable money.

But, be careful what you wish for. Letting the tigers into the playground has its costs. At first, when a new set of crypto believers piled into the market, everything was going up. But remember, players in the future’s market can make money whether the market is going up or down, and typically make a lot more by shorting the market – that is betting it will go down, then doing everything they can to make that crash be as big as possible.

But the shorts players have another big advantage, they can – and usually do – leverage their bets. So, their money is magnified many times. That’s what has fueled the steep declines since the price of Bitcoin peaked on Dec. 17 at $19,939.
All the usual Bitcoin analysts predicted BTC’s march northward would quickly resume, but it hasn’t. It’s gone sideways and generally down. What’s happening?

This lack of normal movement has befuddled those who have followed the price of Bitcoin and other cryptos. No longer does it react to news items the way it has in the past. Why? Because now, for the first time, there is a significant block of money that wants the price to go down – the shorts players.