Analyst Expects Extended Downturn in Crypto Market, Top May Be In

Crypto investor and podcast host Scott Melker, also known as the ‘Wolf of all Streets’ has some concerns about the current market.  Melker, with close to one million followers on X (formerly Twitter), said considering the interest in the new Spot Bitcoin ETFs and the start of the crypto cycle, he wants to believe that the market goes a lot higher.

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However, there are some alarm bells according to Melker, which are usually prohibitive of aping into the market: memecoins and alts running extremely hot, severely increased levels of greed and a bearish trend based on technical indicators.

The host of ‘Macro Monday’ said—despite not making predictions—that we are likely due for a bigger correction and a new rally towards later in the year. His observation is that nobody seems to pay attention to the many signals indicating “the top is in.”

His comments come after Bitcoin made new all-time highs at $73,750.07 (AUD $112,722.48) on 14 March, but has dropped since a solid 10% in just under five days—that’s a drop by approx. USD $8k (AUD $12.2k).

Is Retail Still on The Sidelines?

Ben Cowen, macro-analyst with a PhD in Engineering, thinks not everything in the investment space is straightforward and we should not expect retail to come back anytime soon. He points to the 2019 cycle, where BTC rallied over 300% and yet it took retail investors another 18 months to come back to crypto.

#BTC color-coded by social risk.

Everyone assumes that retail will come back immediately like 2017/2021.

But nothing with investing is guaranteed.

2019 saw BTC rally 300%+ and retail took another 1.5 years to arrive (counterpoint is we did not hit new highs). pic.twitter.com/1UlTSe5YXK

— Benjamin Cowen (@intocryptoverse) March 18, 2024

Cowen has a point, while many of the Boomer generation are likely flush with money and have their house paid off—now enjoying their retirement—they also keep spending up. Meanwhile, younger generations may not be as lucky and are still struggling with high house and commodity prices, and simply don’t have the money to buy into crypto.

And a lot of the current rally is arguably due to institutions or larger family offices putting money into the Spot Bitcoin ETFs.

So, what does it mean now for the crypto market?

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Dave Weisberger, Chairman of CoinRoutes, an institutional digital asset trading platform, suggested that this might signal a rise in Bitcoin dominance—a view Scott Melker concurs with, noting that the market may have reached its peak for now.

Yes, big spike in dominance.

Not saying this is THE top, by any means. But certainly could be A top for a bit.

People will take the post as their emotions allow.

— The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) March 18, 2024