Live markets: A bitcoin bottom signal flashed as holders absorbed 125,000 BTC in June

Bitcoin's risk-adjusted return has fallen to a level that has marked every bear-market bottom of the past decade, the latest on-chain reading to point toward accumulation rather than more downside.

The Sharpe ratio, which measures return against volatility, dropped to -20 on June 11, according to CryptoQuant data reviewed by CoinDesk. It hit that mark at the 2015, 2018-19 and 2022-23 cycle lows.

The catch is what came next. In all three cases, -20 marked the start of a long base rather than a launch. The metric stayed below the line for about five months in 2015 and roughly three months each in 2018-19 and 2022-23 before bitcoin began a durable recovery. So the signal can be interpreted as the floor is forming, not that the rebound has arrived.

Meanwhile, Accumulator wallets, the addresses with a history of holding rather than selling, took in about 125,000 BTC in the first half of June.

Exchange reserves have fallen roughly 80,000 BTC since February to about 2.71 million, and whales pulled more than 11,000 off exchanges in the past day.

This is the latest in a run of on-chain bottom signals over two weeks, after similar calls from valuation and sentiment gauges. They measure accumulation and exhaustion, not flows, and the driver of bitcoin's recovery from its $59,130 low to about $65,800 was the US-Iran deal, not the metrics, per CoinDesk data.

Today's FOMC decision, Kevin Warsh's first as chair, is the next test. A hold is nearly fully priced, so the dot plot and Warsh's tone on inflation will decide whether the recovery extends.

Source: CoinDesk