Bitcoin (BTC) continued trading sideways on December. 27 later spending the Christmas period broadly free of volatility.

Cryptocurrency market daily overview

Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360

BTC "relaxes" this Christmas

Data from Coin360 showed BTC/USD hovering practically in the middle of its monthly range between $half dozen,500 and $7,770.

At press time, the pair hovered at $seven,180, having barely moved over the past 24 hours. The moving picture had remained static since a curious uptick to $7,660 fizzled before in the week.

Bitcoin 7-day price chart

Bitcoin seven-day price chart. Source: Coin360

As 2022 draws to a shut, traders appeared at-home — serious movements, they suggested, would be bars to later on Q1 next year.

For regular Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, that time would come in either January or February, when Bitcoin should put in a new low in USD terms.

"Jan - February 2022 bottom germination," he summarized in a tweet on Christmas 24-hour interval. In a further post, he described overall market weather condition as "relatively calm," writing:

"Two years ago it moved from $12,100 to $xv,500 between 24-26 December. That's a hectic Christmas. This is relaxing."

For van de Poppe, the December 2022 all-fourth dimension high for BTC/USD also formed the offset of an investor sentiment wheel which is just now concluding.

If the high marked "mania" among investors, and so two years later on, they had battled "despair" as Bitcoin dropped significantly, and were now returning to the "mean" from before the 2022 run-up.

The basis for the hypothesis, he stated, was various sources challenge they wished to merchandise equity markets, which signaled a lack of interest in cryptocurrencies.

Ethereum Classic bucks deadening altcoin trend

Altcoins predictably stayed motionless on Fri as Bitcoin set the tone for uninspiring trading conditions.

Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin by market cap, hardly gained or lost on the day, standing at $125.

Similar behavior characterized other major altcoins, with the exception of Ethereum Archetype (ETC), which gained 9.5% on fresh news nigh its upcoming hard fork.

Ethereum Classic 7-day price chart

Ethereum Classic seven-day price chart. Source: Coin360

The overall cryptocurrency market cap was $191.2 billion, with Bitcoin's share at 68.7%.

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