Bitcoin Dips Below 50-Day Moving Average as Speculative Ardor Cools

(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin is flagging in the last leg of a record-breaking year. The digital asset changed hands at about $94,500 early Tuesday in Asia

Bitcoin slid closer to its 50-day moving average Tuesday as the cryptocurrency’s advance paused in the final stretch of a banner year.

Bitcoin was trading at around $94,500 early Tuesday in Asia, about $14,000 below the all-time peak scaled on Dec. 17. The digital asset has pulled back sharply from the record amid a slowdown in the speculative buying that drove the token to new highs.

The test of the 50-day moving average warrants “a move back to a neutral bias” given the “consolidation phase” for the token, Fairlead Strategies LLC technical analyst Katie Stockton wrote in a note.

Bitcoin’s pullback comes as expectations of slower Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts in 2025 are tempering the bullish outlook. The slowdown in the pace of cuts is expected to hit riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies.

However, the digital-asset industry is pinning its hopes on a boom under President-elect Donald Trump, who has backed the creation of a national Bitcoin stockpiles and is set to oversee the appointment of crypto-friendly officials.

In the latest move, crypto skeptic Senator-elect Bernie Moreno was picked for the chamber’s banking committee. The digital-asset industry is anticipating a boom as a slew of crypto proponents prepare to join the Trump administration.

MicroStrategy Purchases

MicroStrategy Inc. said it had purchased an additional $561 million of Bitcoin at an average price near last week’s record high. The purchase marks the seventh week in a row of purchases for the dot-com-era software maker turned leveraged Bitcoin proxy.

Trump, who was initially a digital-asset skeptic, pivoted as the sector spent heavily to advance its interests during the US election campaign. Bitcoin has surged about 40% since Trump emerged victorious after Election Day on Nov. 5 and set about reversing a Biden administration crypto crackdown.

US exchange-traded funds investing directly in Bitcoin have attracted more than $12 billion of net inflows since Trump became president-elect. However, the pace of subscriptions slowed recently, including the highest one-day outflow from the group of one dozen ETFs on Dec. 19.

The largest digital asset has rallied 125% so far this year, outpacing the returns from traditional investments such as global stocks and gold. A broader crypto market gauge, encompassing smaller tokens like Ether and meme-crowd favorite Dogecoin, has also doubled.

(Updates with MicroStrategy purchase in fourth paragraph.)