Is There a Holiday Bitcoin Rally in the Works?

On-chain data suggests bullish sentiment might be rising for bitcoin

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by Axel Rangel

share
  • The unspent miner supply of crypto is closing in at all-time highs, which suggests that miners are holding on to their bitcoin in anticipation of an upcoming bull market
  • Singapore-based QCP capital wrote in a recent note that it expects a squeeze to take place over the holidays and into 2022 as liquidity thins out

Bitcoin has been range bound for most of December, stuck in a rut after the crash earlier this month that sent its price dropping from $57,000 to just above $48,000. But this might change over the course of the holiday period, according to two notes that came out today.

London-based GlobalBlock argues that some on-chain metrics are beginning to look bullish for bitcoin, after altcoins had some dramatic upwards moves earlier this week. The firm argues that the number of coins going unspent by miners is indicative of a belief by miners that upwards price action is on the horizon.

“On-chain metrics continue to be bullish as the unspent miner supply closes in on all-time-highs. These are the coins that are issued to miners as a reward for solving a block but have never been spent on-chain,” GlobalBlock’s Marcus Sotiriou wrote.

“This shows the sentiment of miners and, by holding their mined Bitcoin, this suggests that they anticipate significant price rise in the short to mid-term.”


Sotiriou added that he believes that Visa’s recent announcement that it was doubling-down on crypto adoption via its new crypto advisory division is also quite bullish for asset prices.

“Crypto being incorporated into the network effects of giants like Visa is how I think the crypto industry will on board billions of users over the next decade and hence avoid a multiyear bear market as seen in previous cycles,” he wrote.

In a note published Wednesday, Singapore’s QCP capital wrote that it was “surprised at the massive volume of option selling across the board.”

The firm said it believes that liquidity will thin out into the holidays and into 2022, and there will likely be a topside squeeze during that time.

Bitcoin started the Wednesday trading session in the US at about $49,200, up 0.3%, according to CoinGecko.

Indices by TradingView

Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your inbox every evening. Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter now.


Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Hilton Park Lane

Tues - Wed, November 10 - 11, 2026

DAS London is a two-day summit at the Hilton Park Lane in London featuring conversations between the builders, allocators, and policy makers who are shaping the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the UK, Europe, and North America.

Marina Bay Sands Singapore

Wednesday, October 07, 2026

DAS Asia is a a single-day summit at Marina Bay Sands Singapore featuring conversations between the builders, investors, and global leaders are shaping the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in Asia & North America.

recent research

EthenaNextAct.jpg

Research

The basis trade built Ethena, but it is unlikely to power the next phase of growth on its own. As yields compress and TVL declines, Ethena is evolving from a single strategy product into a diversified yield curator. In this report, I evaluate the protocol's proposed reserve changes, the implications for USDe yields, and why Coinbase may become Ethena's most important growth catalyst.

Newsletter

The Breakdown

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Blockworks Research

Unlock crypto's most powerful research platform.

Our research packs a punch and gives you actionable takeaways for each topic.

SubscribeGet in touch

Blockworks Inc.

133 W 19th St., New York, NY 10011

Blockworks Network

NewsPodcastsNewslettersEventsRoundtablesAnalytics