Bitcoin's slump is likely to end when its market share climbs back above 50%, JPMorgan crypto expert says
- Bitcoin's slump is likely to end when its market share rises back above 50%, JPMorgan's expert said.
- Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou told CNBC it had risen in recent days to about 46%.
- But he said there was so far little sign of a buy-the-dip mentality among big investors.
Bitcoin's slump is likely to end when the cryptocurrency's market share climbs back above 50%, JPMorgan's cryptocurrency expert has said.
The world's biggest cryptocurrency has tumbled since May, and its share of the $1.41 trillion crypto market stood at around 46% on Wednesday. Bitcoin stood at $34,584 on Wednesday, down more than 45% from April's record high of close to $65,000.
JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou told CNBC on Tuesday that bitcoin's relatively low market share was a negative signal that suggests interest in the token remains relatively subdued.
"It was like 60% back in the beginning of April," Panigirtzoglou said on CNBC's "Worldwide Exchange."
"A healthy number there, in terms of the share of bitcoin as a percentage of the total cryptocurrency market cap, is 50% or above. I think that's another indicator to watch here in terms of whether this bear phase is over or not."
Panigirtzoglou said bitcoin's market share had risen in recent weeks, from around 40% in April.
"The flow into ethereum funds has slowed over the past two to three weeks, at the same time as the flow into bitcoin funds… has improved," Panigirtzoglou said.
"That means there is perhaps a relative value opportunity that some institutional investors are seeing, to buy bitcoin and sell other cryptocurrencies."
However, Panigirtzoglou said there was little sign that big investors were buying the dip in bitcoin. He said the price may have to drop further before people buy back in, although he did not specify how far.
Other analysts take a different view. Fundstrat's David Grider wrote in a note on Monday that bitcoin's rise despite the UK's crackdown on major crypto exchange Binance is a bullish signal that suggests prices may have bottomed out.