Bitcoin Bears in Disbelief as BTC Becomes Best Performing Asset of 2023

Bitcoin has posted the strongest quarterly returns since its November 2021 all-time high. Furthermore, BTC has gained more than 80% since the beginning of the year, making it the best-performing asset of 2023 so far.

Comparatively, gold has gained just 9% in the same period, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 has managed around 20% since January 1. Additionally, the S&P 500 has managed just an 8.5% gain since the beginning of the year.

On April 17, on-chain analytics provider Glassnode confirmed Bitcoin’s performance stating:

“The strong market performance in 2023 is a stark contrast to 2022, and suggests a favorable regime shift is underway.”

Bitcoin Bulls Back in Play?

Glassnode did state that BTC and gold prices have been correlated recently in the wake of another U.S. banking crisis. The firm also investigated the premise of a return to a full bull market.

It reported that a large amount of BTC has returned to profit recently. In 2023, a total of 6.2 million BTC have returned to profit representing almost a third of the supply. This gives an “indication of just how large this cost basis foundation is below $30k,” it added.

Is the #Bitcoin bear market over?

With a rally 100% off the lows, $BTC is trading above a very large cluster of supply, that formed the 2022 floor.

This week, we investigate indicators showing if the market making a robust bear market recovery…or not.https://t.co/eeQ1xeE07I pic.twitter.com/PKHJc7EF18

— glassnode (@glassnode) April 17, 2023

Furthermore, the net unrealized profit/loss (NUPL) metric is currently neutral, suggesting that BTC is not oversold (as it was below $20k) or over-bought (as in over $50k).

“This is coincident with past cycles where a transition between a bear and bull markets have taken place.”

Additionally, Bitcoin hodlers with coins older than three months appear to be reluctant to sell, even with the rally to $30k.

Glassnode concluded that several on-chain indicators are suggesting that “bear market conditions, or at least the worst of it, may now be behind us.”

Crypto Market Cools

Price doesn’t move in a straight line, so bull market or not, there will be corrections. Bitcoin has dropped below $30k in a 1.8% slide on the day to trade at $29,464 at the time of writing.

It has still gained 9% over the past month but is due a pullback after hitting heavy resistance at the $30,000 level. Support currently lies around $28,000, so this level may be revisited over the coming week.

Total market capitalization is down 1.2% to $1.3 trillion, according to CoinGecko.