#BTC -Former crypto day traders say 'no thanks' even as Bitcoin roars back.
Between 2013 and 2017, Peter To claims he made more than $1 million by day-trading Bitcoin during its bull runs.
While the worldâs largest cryptocurrency has rallied in recent weeks, more than doubling from levels after last yearâs epic collapse that helped blow up the FTX exchange, the 34-year-old professional stock trader in New York says itâs not enough for him to go back.
âBitcoin is not as volatile or as driven as it was,â To said. âFor traders like me who are hunting for inefficiencies in the market, itâs not as interesting. The allure is kind of gone.â
As FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried waits to find out how long heâll spend in prison following his conviction Thursday on fraud charges, many in the industry believe closure on that ugly episode will mark the end of the industryâs immature, chaotic phase and usher in a more mature era of mainstream acceptance. Yet that could also mean the market will never again provide the type of spectacular growth and once-in-a-lifetime trading opportunities seen in earlier years.
Bitcoin generated sparks last week when it climbed above $35,000. While thatâs still far below its all-time high of almost $69,000 in 2021, the market was pumped on optimism that the first exchange-traded fund holding Bitcoin will be approved, with BlackRock Inc. filing an application for one in June. More positive news came as a judge in August overturned a decision to block the conversion of a Bitcoin trust from Grayscale Investments LLC into an ETF.
Retail investors retreated when the industry was rocked a year ago by the collapse of FTX. Bitcoin sank below $16,000 and tradersâ returns fell about 40% for 2022, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Crypto isnât the only market to see a retreat by day traders. The share of retail investors in US equity market volumes plunged 40% at the end of last year from the beginning of 2021, according to the bank, while stocks once buoyed by the retail crowd vastly underperformed the market.
