BTC price holds $16K as analyst says Bitcoin fundamentals 'unchanged'

Bitcoin (BTC) lingered near $16,500 at the Nov. 23 Wall Street open as United States markets awaited Thanksgiving cues.

Grayscale, GBTC still dominate crypto mood

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD shunning volatility after fresh two-year lows the day prior.

The pair left analysts guessing the day before U.S. markets closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, with crypto commentators still focused on Digital Currency Group (DCG).

Potential liquidity problems with DCG-owned Genesis Trading continued to agitate those already expecting further losses across Bitcoin and altcoins.

As Cointelegraph reported, concerns had already spread to doubt the future of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the largest Bitcoin institutional investment vehicle with assets under management worth over $10 billion.

On Nov. 22, Grayscale’s ex-CEO, Barry Silbert, released a letter to DCG shareholders, widely shared on social media, seeking to shore up morale.

“Not sure how to interpret the mixed reports around DGC, GENESIS, Grayscale, but Barry Silbert 's letter yesterday gave the crypto market some hopium,” analytics resource Material Indicators wrote in part of a Twitter thread on the day.

It added that announcements on GBTC could nonetheless come after hours in a potential volatility catalyst.

An accompanying chart of buy and sell pressure on largest global exchange Binance showed strong resistance in place at just below $17,000.

On the buy side, only $15,000 presented any solid support at the time of writing, with the bulk at $14,000.

"Never have seen sentiment this bad"

Commenting on the general state of the crypto market after the FTX debacle, meanwhile, popular commentator William Clemente said that sentiment should not be confused with Bitcoin's underlying strength.

Related: Bitcoin may need $1B more on-chain losses before new BTC price bottom

"Never have seen sentiment this bad," he acknowledged.

"Concerns about every centralized company in the industry, people giving up, losing hope, depression. Meanwhile the fundamentals of Bitcoin are completely unchanged. Posting this to revisit when BTC is pushing to new highs in a few years."

According to classic yardstick, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, there was nonetheless room to fall, with a score of 22/100 still more than double that which traditionally accompanies bear market bottoms.

"The word dead has been rapidly circulating around crypto platforms in November," research firm Santiment added in insights of its own on Nov. 22.

"As one of the more bearish sentiment words, this is a sign of traders giving up on markets rebounding. Ironically, this capitulation is historically when markets rebound."

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