Cryptocurrencies are in a very difficult territory where no fundamental or technical indicators are actually affecting the prices but the sentiments of the community. Every news article or a social mention is driving the trend and direction of where the prices are heading to. Majority of this drive is from the sentiments of Bitcoin- the largest cryptocurrency, still, some altcoins have their specific pros and cons that changed their variance from that of Bitcoin. Let’s look at the few indicators that are used widely across to determine the sentiment.
Bitcoin Sentimental Analysis
As mentioned, Bitcoin is the largest coin that decides most of the trend for the crypto markets and it is necessary to understand what it garners among the community. A lot of news flow and sell off has dampened the short term sentiment but yes, there are some long-term positives that make Bitcoin an interesting study. An analysis of its social mention and, greed & fear index would give us a clear idea of what is happening.
| Analysis Type | Tool | Analysis- Score | Sentiment |
| #BTC – Hashtag Analysis | Keyhole | Score: 89
Positives: 52.7 % Negative: 3.2% Neutral- 42.1% |
Positive to Neutral- Neutral rising |
| #BTC- Social Media Mentions | Social Mention | Sentiment 8:1 in favor of positives
With 189 scores towards neutral and 15 in favor of Positives |
Positive to Neutral |
| Fear to Greed Index | Alternative.me | Score 31–Fear | Negative |
| Fear to Greed Index | CNN Money | Score 16 – Fear | Negative |
So Bitcoin, in the New Year, is pretty much range bound and is stabilizing in the range of USD 3800 to USD 4200. The greed and fear index has also moved from the ‘extreme fear category’ to ‘fear category’ as the risk of volatility is reducing. There are chances that the neutral sentiment may take the markets back to USD 4200 before it starts the upward rally.
Altcoin Sentimental Analysis
Fear and Greed index is only available for BTC as not may altcoins have all components required to calculate it.
| Altcoin | Keyhole # analysis | Social Mention | Sentiment |
| ETH- Ethereum | Score – 89
40.2% Positive 3.4% Negative 56.4%- Neutral |
3:1 towards Positives
Neutral 179 |
Neutral to Positive- Neutrality rising |
| XRP- Ripple | Score 90
22.7% Positive 2.6% Negative 73.7% neutral |
7:0 towards Positives
Neutral 16 |
Neutral to Positive, Neutrality rising |
| BCH- Bitcoin Cash | Score 80
27.6 % Positive 5% Negative 67.4% Neutral |
12:1 towards positives
Neutral 53 |
Neutral to Positive- Neutrality rising |
| EOS | Score 91
24.2% Positive 1.9% Negative 73.9%- Neutral |
5:1 towards positives
Neutral 61 |
Neutral to Positive-
Neutrality rising |
| XLM-Stellar | Score 95
41.4% Positive 1.9% Negative 56.7% Neutral |
3:1 towards positives
Neutral 87 |
Neutral to Positive, Neutrality rises |
After the positive year-end, most altcoins are in the neutral zone. Like Bitcoin, they are all pretty range bound. Ethereum still leads the pack as it moves back to the second place replacing XRP. XRP remained neutral last week. There isn’t much movement in rest of altcoins but most of them still outperform the stable bitcoin.
Will this sentiment actually pull back the prices? Do let us know your views on the same.
Nilesh Maurya has been associated for past 8 years as an Investment Banker with Omega Capital, a bespoke Investment Banking outfit having offices in Mumbai, New York, Singapore, and Dubai. He has been a regular contributor to business publications such as Business India and Market Express and has been a mentor to many start-up companies. Nilesh Maurya has been associated for past 8 years as an Investment Banker with Omega Capital, a bespoke Investment Banking outfit having offices in Mumbai, New York, Singapore, and Dubai. He has been a regular contributor to business publications such as Business India and Market Express and has been a mentor to many start-up companies. Follow him on Twitter at @KoinKing1 or connect with me on linkedin.
