Bitcoin (BTC) Market Cycles: A Statistical Momentum Perspective

hu, Jinse Finance

Bitcoin's price typically shows evidence of statistical momentum, where price increases follow upward trends and price decreases follow downward trends. Over longer time frames, this creates price cycles that exhibit phenomena around historical upward trends (Figure 1).

Each past price cycle has had unique drivers, and future price returns have no reason to fully reflect past experiences. Additionally, as Bitcoin matures and is adopted by a broader base of traditional investors, and as the impact of the four-year halving events on supply diminishes, the cyclical nature of Bitcoin's price may reshape or completely disappear. Nevertheless, studying past cycles may provide investors with some guidance regarding Bitcoin's typical statistical behavior, which can inform risk management decisions.

Figure 2 shows Bitcoin's price performance during each previous cycle's appreciation phase. The price at the cycle low (marking the beginning of the appreciation phase) is indexed to 100 and tracked to its peak (marking the end of the appreciation phase). Figure 3 presents the same information in tabular form.

The first price cycle in Bitcoin's history was relatively short and steep: the first cycle lasted less than a year, while the second cycle lasted about two years. In both cases, the price rose more than 500 times from the previous cycle low. The subsequent two cycles lasted less than three years each. During the cycle from January 2015 to December 2017, Bitcoin's price increased over 100 times, while in the cycle from December 2018 to November 2021, Bitcoin's price rose about 20 times.

After peaking in November 2021, Bitcoin's price fell to about $16,000 in November 2022, marking a cyclical low. The current price increase has been ongoing since then, lasting over two years. As shown in Figure 2, the latest price increase is relatively close to the previous two Bitcoin cycles, both of which lasted about a year before reaching their peaks. In terms of magnitude, the current cycle's approximate 6-fold return is significant but far below the returns achieved in the previous four cycles. Overall, while we cannot be certain that future price returns will resemble past cycles, Bitcoin's history tells us that the latest bull market could continue in terms of both duration and magnitude.

Figure 3: Four different cycles in Bitcoin's price history

In addition to measuring past cycles' price performance, investors can apply various blockchain-based indicators to assess the maturity of the Bitcoin bull market. For example, common indicators measure the degree of appreciation of Bitcoin relative to the buyer's cost basis, the extent of new capital inflows into Bitcoin, and the price relative to Bitcoin miners' income levels.

One particularly popular indicator calculates the ratio of Bitcoin's market value (MV) (measured at its secondary market price per token) to its realized value (RV) (measured at the price of its last on-chain transaction per token). This indicator, known as the MVRV ratio, can be viewed as the extent to which Bitcoin's market value exceeds the total cost basis of the market. In the past four cycles, the MVRV ratio reached values of at least 4 (Figure 4). Currently, the MVRV ratio is 2.6, indicating that the latest cycle may still continue. However, the MVRV ratio peaks at lower levels in each cycle, so it may never reach 4 before the price peaks.

Other on-chain indicators measure the extent of new capital entering the Bitcoin ecosystem—experienced cryptocurrency investors often refer to this framework as HODL Waves. Prices may appreciate as new capital purchases Bitcoin from long-term holders at slightly higher prices. There are various specific measures to choose from, but Grayscale Research prefers to use the number of tokens transferred on-chain last year relative to Bitcoin's total freely circulating supply (Figure 5). In the past four cycles, this indicator reached at least 60%—meaning that during the appreciation phase, at least 60% of the freely circulating supply was traded on-chain within a year. Currently, this figure is about 54%, suggesting that we may see more tokens change hands on-chain before the price peaks.

Other cyclical indicators focus on Bitcoin miners, the professional service providers securing the Bitcoin network. For example, a common metric calculates the ratio of miners' market cap (MC) (the dollar value of all Bitcoin held by miners) to the so-called "thermal cap" (TC) (the cumulative value of Bitcoin issued to miners through block rewards and transaction fees). The intuition is that when the value of miners' assets reaches a certain threshold, they may begin to take profits. Historically, when the MCTC ratio exceeds 10, the price subsequently peaks within that cycle (Figure 6). Currently, the MCTC ratio is about 6, indicating that we are still in the middle of the current cycle