HODL? Low BTC Transaction Volume

Cryptocurrency investment is a touchy subject. In fact, many have lost their money while some of those who came in early were able to collect their profits of great value. What seemed like a bullish trend for Bitcoin right before the end of 2017, almost reaching $20,000 at one point, is now looking sluggish and has struggled to stay within the $11,000 range.

On March 4, 2018, there were only 195,000 confirmed transactions for Bitcoin. To give you a perspective on this low number, it was only a few notches higher than the all-time low of 180,000 confirmed BTC transactions on February 26, 2018. Those volumes that were mentioned were actually the lowest since March 2016. Then, Bitcoin was actually hovering from $380 to $410.

The Volume Looks Odd

So what could this exactly mean? Does it mean that more people are decided to keep their Bitcoin for the coming days/weeks/months or even years to come?

The volume for Bitcoin transactions looks odd considering that the transaction fees are at the lowest in months. According to Coin Telegraph, they mentioned that “the slump comes at a time when Bitcoin struggles to regain the sky-high USD value it achieved late last year when it reached $20,000 on some major exchanges”.

Bullish in the future or Bound for Doom?

There are still investors who believe that there is actually a chance that widespread adoption is coming in the next few years. In February of 2018, both the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler predicted that Bitcoin will reach $320,000 in the next few years. Cameron even mentioned that skeptics will suffer from “failure of imagination” in the coming years.

However, there are also those who express a different opinion on cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin in particular. If you will ask Harvard professor Kenneth Rogoff, he mentioned to CNBC that Bitcoin price will crash towards $100 in a matter of a few years. He mentioned that this will happen once people already realized the reality of the cryptocurrency market. “If you take away the possibility of money-laundering and tax evasion, Bitocoi’s actual uses as a transaction vehicle are very small” according to Rogoff who also worked as a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund.

Regulatory Concerns

The price of Bitcoin along with other cryptocurrencies started to slide down after different regulators from different countries decided to tighten their approach when it comes to cryptocurrencies. There were different concerns as to why regulators decided to implement new rules that adapted to the cryptocurrency market. There were some countries that were simply too afraid that cryptocurrencies are highly volatile that could easily bankrupt their local investors. On the other hand, there is also the fear that it can be used to transact illicit activities and even evade tax.

Should you be concerned given the fact that there are a few numbers of Bitcoin transactions recently? Does it mean that people are no longer interested? Or are they actually just holding on to their cryptocurrencies waiting for the best time to sell their Bitcoin when the price spiked back up? For some, it’s actually a sign that investors are looking to HODL than sell their Bitcoin despite the low transaction fees.