Crypto trading volume has plunged towards the end of 2024. According to a report by Santiment, the trade volume in all cryptocurrency sectors is much lower in the latter days of 2024. In comparison to the previous week, which saw Bitcoin reach its all-time high, there has been a total of -64% less activity in the last week.
The slump in volumes comes against the backdrop of a lack of positive cues in the crypto sector, a slower year end market and the price of Bitcoin being range bound.
Crypto Volume Fall Not a Surprise for Market
Santiment writes that the downward trend in trade is not a surprising outcome, especially for speculative altcoins. Traders tend to be less active during the last week of December because of the holidays and the need to organize their year-end accounts.
That being said, if whales continue to exhibit their strong accumulating pattern, the lack of retail engagement could result in at least one last, huge, unanticipated 2024 pump while retail pays little attention.
Read Also: Bitcoin Defies Expectations, Slips Only 2% in December As Bullish Run Still Intact
Can Bitcoin See A Surge Before Year End?
The speculation around Bitcoin’s price for the last couple of days of 2024 has been on two different ends of the spectrum. While Santiment believes that the crypto market may see one last pump before the end, many believe that since Bitcoin’s price has been rather down, it might indicate a further fall in the market.
The entire crypto market will likely follow if Bitcoin’s prices continue to fall. With that in mind, Bitcoin trading below $95,000 is “very, very bad,” according to Tone Vays, because it increases the chance of a correction to $73,000.
Also, according to Mark Newton, Thomas Lee maintains that Bitcoin will most likely reach $250,000 in 2025, but before then, it might drop to $60,000.
Why is Crypto Market Seeing A Bearish Trend?
The current decline in risk appetite brought on by the US Fed’s interest rate decision is one of the primary causes of the bearish trade in cryptocurrencies. The Fed’s hawkish stance on further rate cuts and the economy somewhat hurt investors’ risk appetite, which led to a fall in volatile assets like crypto.
Although the US central bank has already dropped rates by 25 basis points, it only announced two rate cuts for the next year, compared to the four that were earlier anticipated.
Will Crypto See a Rise in Trading Volume in 2025?
Most predictions about the crypto market for 2025 remain bullish. As Unocrypto reported earlier, Galaxy Research expects Bitcoin may reach or surpass $185,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025 and will likely surpass $150,000 in the first half of that year.
With most investors predicting a rise in almost all crypto prices, trading volumes will also follow alongside a rise in userbase and adoption in 2025.