Bitcoin (BTC) returning to a bull market depends on whether "cryptocultists" have already exited the marketplace, veteran trader Peter Brandt has warned.

In a tweet on January. 8, Brandt, who has go a regular Bitcoin pundit in recent years, confirmed he was eyeing current toll activeness to determine the likely next move.

Brandt: Bitcoin needs "cryptocultist shakeout"

BTC/USD gained five.v% in the 24 hours to press fourth dimension, retaking $8,000 in a move many previously considered highly unlikely.

Whether momentum continues, Brandt says, is nevertheless downwardly to the composition of the marketplace, as well equally technical indicators.

On the topic of whether a bull market began this calendar week, he summarized:

"If enough cryptocultists have been shaken out since Dec '17, so 'yes.' If non, so 'no.'"

Uploading supporting charts, Brandt highlighted iii characteristics that hinted at a bullish upturn for Bitcoin. These included BTC/USD remaining within a multiyear channel and not falling through the bottom of it, besides every bit preparing to break the ceiling of a different, half dozen-month channel.

Asked whether he thought it was "too early" for a fresh bull run due to investors anticipating lower prices starting time, meanwhile, Brandt responded:

"I think exactly the reverse. If at that place are many waiting, and so they may wait forever."

A trip below $3,000?

The sober approach to possible further gains echoes Brandt'due south more than bearish stance from before. In Dec, he forecast BTC/USD dropping to $v,500 by July 2022, two months after Bitcoin's block reward halving.

Other grave warnings included a Bitcoin cost of merely $2,760, an eighty% retraction against 2022's highs near $14,000.

His predictions have often been accurate — in 2022, he successfully called the Bitcoin market meridian at effectually $20,000 before the 2022 bear market kicked in.

There was no word on altcoins, investors in which Brandt similarly called "cryptomaniacs" in July. At the time, he claimed any major appreciation in Bitcoin would exist unlikely to spill over into altcoin markets. Bitcoin's market share subsequently increased by around iv%.