Billionaire and well-known TV star entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary is not slow to voice his opinion on the state of the cryptocurrency market. He says the worst is yet to come, and when it’s over, there will be little left of the crypto industry… but that’s a good thing.
Predicts Crypto Panic Event Will Be Good
In a new interview on YouTube investment channel Meet Kevin, the venture capitalist says he believes the bottom is not yet in for digital assets even though the market cap of the nascent industry has lost more than half of its value from its peak.
“There’s no big guy who has gone to zero yet, and I think that’s still to come. Hard to say who it is because it’s going to be because of leverage and some kind of relationship in a counterparty holding that they have not disclosed, and I’m just speculating right now, but that would be very healthy for the market to have that happen.
Voyager is too small. It doesn’t matter. The rest of these guys were kind of irrelevant in terms of total market cap. Bitcoin and the crypto market itself has almost been cut in half in total market cap and so you would think we’re on our way to the bottom.”
O’Leary is referring to crypto brokerage Voyager, a firm that filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month after a big borrower defaulted on a sizable loan.
The billionaire highlights that he’s still waiting for a big capitulation event that would rock the crypto industry.
“I like a big, big panic event. That’s always been a great way to bottom. It’s towel throwing. It’s capitulation. It’s massive volume. It’s total panic in the streets and always a great buying opportunity.
I have no idea who’s next. Could be tomorrow morning, could be a month from now, but it’s coming to a theater near you, and it will definitely be a very good thing for this industry. It’ll be a great thing because it’ll take out all of the bad broken business models, the heavy leveraged [and] the speculation that was too risky.”
Crypto Bottom Not Here Yet
BTC bulls think the bottom is in, but a neutral-to-bearish price formation and the absence of a futures premium contradict their optimism.
A descending triangle pattern has been pressuring Bitcoin (BTC) for the past three weeks and while some traders cite this as a bullish reversal pattern, the $19,000 support remains a crucial level to determine the bulls’ fate.
Despite the apparent lack of a clear price bottom, Bitcoin derivatives metrics have
significantly improved since June 30 and positive news from global asset manager VanEck may have eased traders’ sentiment.
On July 5, two retirement funds in the U.S. state of Virginia announced a $35 million commitment to VanEck’s cryptocurrency-focused investment fund.
On the same day, a Huobi exchange subsidiary received its money services business (MSB) license from the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The Seychelles-based company stated that the license creates a foundation for expanding crypto-related business in the United States.
A bit of positive news came out on July 7 as decentralized finance staking and lending platform Celsius Network announced that it had fully repaid its outstanding debt to Maker (MKR) protocol.
Celsius is among several crypto yield platforms on the brink of insolvency after historic losses across multiple positions. Forced sales on leveraged positions by exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications accelerated the recent cryptocurrency price crash.
Currently, traders face mixed sentiment between possible contagion impacts and their optimism that the $19,000 support is gaining strength. For this reason, analyzing derivatives data is essential to understand whether investors are pricing higher odds of a market downturn.
Bitcoin futures premium flips slightly positive
Retail traders usually avoid quarterly futures due to their fixed settlement date and price difference from spot markets. However, the contracts’ biggest advantage is the lack of a fluctuating funding rate; hence, the prevalence of arbitrage desks and professional traders.
These fixed-month contracts tend to trade at a slight premium to spot markets as sellers request more money to withhold settlement longer. This situation is technically known as “contango” and is not exclusive to crypto markets. Thus, futures should trade at a 5% to 10% annualized premium in healthy markets.
Bitcoin annualized futures’ premium went negative on June 28, indicating low demand from leverage buyers. Yet, the bearish structure did not hold for long as the indicator shifted to the positive area on July 4.
Related: Genesis Trading CEO confirms 3AC exposure, parent company helps plug losses
Option traders remain skeptical of each price pump
To exclude externalities specific to the Bitcoin futures instrument, traders must also analyze the options markets. For instance, the 25% delta skew shows when arbitrage desks are overcharging for upside or downside protection.
Options traders give higher odds for a price increase during bullish markets, causing the skew indicator to fall below -12%. Meanwhile, a market’s generalized fear sentiment induces a 12% or higher positive skew.
June 18 marked the highest-ever record 30-day delta skew, typical of extremely bearish markets. Still, the current 16% skew level shows investors’ reluctance to provide downside protection, a fact reflected by the overcharging for put options.
Contagion is still a threat that adds pressure across the market
It’s tough to call whether $17,580 was the cycle low, but some traders attribute the movement to Three Arrows Capital’s failure to meet its margin calls.
Some traders are calling for a “generational bottom,” but there is still a long way before investors flip bullish as Bitcoin remains locked in a descending triangle formation.
From one side, Bitcoin derivatives metrics show modest improvement since June 30. On the other hand, investors remain suspicious of further contagion from such an important venture capital and crypto asset manager.
Sometimes the best trade is to wait for a clearer market structure and avoid leverage at all costs, regardless of your certainty of a cycle bottom.
Featured Image: Shutterstock/Annuitti/Natalia Siiatovskaia
Disclaimer: Although the material contained in this website was prepared based on information from public and private sources that EcomiCrush.com believes to be reliable, no representation, warranty or undertaking, stated or implied, is given as to the accuracy of the information contained herein, and EcomiCrush.com expressly disclaims any liability for the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this website.
