Bitcoin Has Dropped 26% From This Cycle's All-Time High, Pushing Market Sentiment Into "Extreme Fear"

Bitcoin has dropped 26% from this cycle's all-time high, pushing market sentiment into "extreme fear." However, global liquidity trends provide a broader perspective.

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 07: A visual representation of the digital Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC) alongside US Dollars. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Bitcoin (BTC) has dropped 26% from this cycle’s all-time high, pushing market sentiment into “extreme fear.” But a broader perspective from global liquidity trends offers interesting insights amid the volatility.

Indeed, in today’s economic environment, the money supply plays a big role in shaping asset prices. This is especially true for bitcoin, which maintains a 0.94 correlation with global liquidity over the long term.

Breaking Down Global Liquidity

Global liquidity refers to the overall availability of money and credit across the international financial system. It affects capital flows, investment, and asset prices, with central banks playing a crucial role through interest rates and monetary policy. Key institutions like the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank (ECB), People’s Bank of China (PBoC), and Bank of Japan (BoJ) shape these conditions.

A commonly used measure is Global M2. It encompasses cash, checking and savings deposits, money market accounts, and smaller time deposits below $100,000, all in U.S. dollar terms. It serves as a proxy for the total money readily available for spending, investing, and lending on a global scale.

Bitcoin’s price is closely linked to these global liquidity trends. The logic is simple: when there is more money available, asset prices tend to rise. Risk assets, like bitcoin, are particularly sensitive to liquidity, thriving in periods when investors adopt a risk-on strategy.

Bitcoin and Liquidity Correlation: A Closer Look

While bitcoin follows liquidity trends, the timing, specific events, and bitcoin’s internal liquidity dynamics also matter. A study by Sam Callahan for Lyn Alden, Inc. examined these factors.

Timing Is Key

Bitcoin shows a strong long-term correlation with liquidity, but short-term movements are subject to changes in specific market factors. An analysis of bitcoin’s performance from May 2013 to July 2024 indicates a 0.94 correlation with global liquidity over the long term. However, when measured using a 12-month rolling correlation, this drops to 0.51, and over a six-month rolling window, it falls further to 0.36.

Periods Where Correlation Weakens

The periods where bitcoin’s 12-month rolling correlation with liquidity weakens often coincide with significant industry or global events. The ICO bubble burst, the COVID-19 sell-off, or the recent Terra/Luna collapse (which triggered what Callahan calls a crypto credit contagion) disrupted market dynamics. These events may spark fear-driven selloffs, not directly related to liquidity trends.

Bitcoin’s Own Liquidity Cycle

Bitcoin is not just an asset; it functions as money, with its own internal liquidity cycles. It follows a four-year halving cycle, where miners' rewards for securing the network are cut in half. While the reduction in new supply is relatively small, these halvings tend to ignite market-wide enthusiasm, often pushing prices into overbought territory. At that point, long-term holders capitalize on the rally by selling to new entrants.

This pattern played out in 2013, 2017, and 2021, when bitcoin hit extreme valuations and encountered sharp corrections afterward. These rapid price drops occurred despite no fundamental changes in bitcoin’s technology or utility. Instead, they were driven by internal market dynamics as the cryptocurrency quickly lost liquidity.

A key metric for tracking the state of bitcoin’s valuation is the Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) ratio. It compares bitcoin’s market price to the average on-chain acquisition price (coin value at last transaction). The MVRV Z-score further refines this measure by considering historical volatility, making it a more precise indicator of valuation extremes. A high MVRV Z-score suggests bitcoin is overbought, signaling a potential correction, while a low score indicates undervaluation and accumulation opportunities.

Combining MVRV Z-Score with Correlation

Chart: Sam Callahan for Lyn Alden, Inc.

As the above chart showcases, when the MVRV Z-score drops sharply from elevated levels—which usually happens during periods of rapid price decline—we observe a corresponding decrease in bitcoin’s 12-month rolling correlation with liquidity. This shift occurs as internal market dynamics, like profit-taking and panic selling, become more dominant than broader liquidity conditions.

In essence, even in a favorable liquidity environment, an overvalued bitcoin, as signaled by the MVRV Z-score, may still experience price corrections due to internal market forces. Conversely, even in a less favorable liquidity climate, a bitcoin valued below its realized price and low MVRV Z-score might attract accumulation from investors seeking opportunities in undervalued assets.

What Does Global Liquidity Suggest