Daily Bitcoin payments have sunk to a yearly low, illustrating the period of illiquidity characteristic of the holiday season.

Confirmed Bitcoin ( BTC ) payments sank to 623,434 on Dec. 26, marking the lowest point of the year, according to data from blockchain.com 

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Confirmed Bitcoin payments per day. 1–year chart. Source: Blockchain.com

Confirmed Bitcoin payments are transactions that the blockchain network’s consensus mechanism has accepted and included in a block, making them irreversible.

Metrics like the number of confirmed payments can be used to gauge investor activity on the Bitcoin network.

On Dec. 17, Bitcoin price crossed the $108,000 all-time high, securing over 857,000 confirmed payments, which is 37% more than yesterday’s 623,000.

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Confirmed Bitcoin payments and BTC price. 1–year chart. Source: Blockchain.com

Meanwhile, Bitcoin analysts are expecting an imminent price recovery above $105,000 entering the end of the holiday period, which is often associated with low institutional liquidity.

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Weak Bitcoin social sentiment points to an imminent price recovery

Weak social sentiment around Bitcoin also suggests an imminent recovery for the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

Social sentiment around Bitcoin fell to its lowest level of 2024, to an average ratio of four to five positive versus negative Bitcoin-related comments, Cointelegraph reported on Dec. 22

However, this low retail investor sentiment could be a sign of a forthcoming Bitcoin breakout, wrote market intelligence platform Santiment in a Dec. 22 X post:

“Vocal traders are now showing severe FUD, and that's good news for contrarians who know markets move in the opposite direction of retail's expectations.”
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BTC social media sentiment, comment ratio. Source: Santiment

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Other crypto analysts are also expecting an end to Bitcoin’s correction under $100,000. On Dec. 20, Bitcoin’s daily chart produced three consecutive red candles for the first time since the first week of November, which coincidentally was the lead-up period to Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory.

Bitcoin’s current downtrend is an organic symptom of the holiday illiquidity, Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research, told Cointelegraph:

“Post-Christmas, market activity typically picks up again, with funds expected to actively position for sectors that might benefit from Trump's upcoming inauguration… The expected trading range for BTC this week is $94,000 - $105,000.”

President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration could be the next significant Bitcoin catalyst on Jan. 20, 2025.

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