Coin Brief Weekly Bitcoin Price Report: August 24-30, 2014

This is the second edition of Coin Brief’s weekly Bitcoin Price Report. This week, we will cover the price activity between the dates of August 24, 2014 and August 30, 2014. We have made a slight change to the structure of our report; instead of giving the opening of Sunday its own space in our recap list, we stopped at the close of Saturday and listed both the open and close prices in the same space. So, while the information is still essentially the same, we are labeling the end of the week as the end of Saturday night, rather than the beginning of Sunday morning.

This week was relatively flat and inactive in regards to movements in the Bitcoin price. As we will see below, the overall prices did not move much throughout the duration of the week; our week began on August 24 at $502, and ended at the close of August 30 at $507. However, there was more active movement in the price throughout the course of the days. Additionally, in the latter half of the week, the Bitcoin price began creeping downwards, possibly foreshadowing the price activity of next week.

Now, let us look at the hourly opening and closing prices on Bitstamp for the week.

Quick Overview of the Daily Bitcoin Price

Note: The prices in this list have been rounded to the nearest dollar amount. Therefore, our description of the week’s price movements will not be 100% accurate.

Aug 24: $502

Aug 25: $503 (+0.20%)

Aug 26: $505 (+0.40%)

Aug 27: $515 (+1.98%)

Aug 28: $514 (-0.19%)

Aug 29: $507 (-1.36%)

Aug 30: Open: $504 (-0.59%) Close: $504 (0.00%)

Weekly change: +0.40%

Weekly Bitcoin Price Recap

Bitcoin Price — August 24

The week began at midnight on August 24. Opening on Sunday at $502, the Bitcoin price embarked upon a journey of very flat activity. The price left the $500s only for a brief period of time during the day; starting at 1 PM, the price broke into the $510s for 6 hours—peaking at $516 at 2 PM. The price then fell back into the $500s at 6 PM. The price stayed flat for the rest of the day, hovering between $500 and $508. The first day of the week ended at $503.

Bitcoin Price — August 25

 Monday, the 25^th of August, started out at $503, a 0.40% gain from the previous day’s opening. This day was characterized by a very subtle—but definite—climb in the Bitcoin price. After falling down to $494 at approximately 3 AM, the market took a slight turn and began climbing upward. By 10 PM, the price had reached $504, with an hourly high of $507. However, the subtle climb ultimately did not amount to much, stalling out and eventually ending the day at $505.

Bitcoin Price — August 26

This day opened at $505, 0.40% up from the open of August 25. Although the climb that started on the 25^th fizzled out towards the end of the day, it picked up steam here and made some considerable progress. By the close of 11 AM, the price reached $511, with an hourly peak of $515. The market continued its gradual climb, and the day concluded with the Bitcoin price sitting at $515.

Bitcoin Price — August 27

Wednesday opened at $515, marking a 1.98% increase from the previous day. The Bitcoin price continued its gradual climb for the first few hours of the morning, reaching $522 by 4 AM with an hourly peak of $523. After 4 AM, however, the price fell back down into the $510s, and had fell to $513 by the end of the midday hour. The price stayed flat for the rest of the day—except for a small bump to $518 at 4 PM—and the day ended at $514. Overall, despite gains in the early morning, the day was ultimately flat.

Bitcoin Price — August 28

The gradual climb that had characterized the first half of the week ended on the 28^th, and a descent in the price began. Starting out at $514, a 0.19% drop from the open of August 27, the price fell for the entire morning and hit $508 by the close of the noon hour. The price continued to fall for the rest of the day—except for a small bump at 11 PM—with the day closing at $507.

Bitcoin Price — August 29

Friday, August 29 began at $507, down 1.36% from the start of Thursday, the 28^th. In the first half of the day, we saw an attempted recovery from the losses that were sustained in the previous day; by the close of 11 AM, the price had climbed to $511, with an hourly peak of $515. This potential recovery lost its momentum at midday, however, and the price continued to fall. By midnight, the end of the day, the price fell to $504.

Bitcoin Price — August 30

This day opened at $504, marking a 0.59% drop from the start of the previous day. At 3 AM, the Bitcoin price fell from $505 to $501. For the rest of the day, the price stayed very flat, hovering between $500 and $505. The day closed, thus ending our week, at $504—making the overall, daily change 0%.

Where will the Bitcoin Price go from Here?

If we return to our ceteris paribus (all things remaining equal) forecast from last week, we will see that it more or less held true for the entire week. We stated two possibilities for this week; the first was that the Bitcoin price would remain sideways and hover between a $480s and low $500s range. The second possibility was that the price would continue falling. The former ended up being reality, more or less. For most of the week, the price stayed in the low $500s, with brief stints in the $510s and $520s.

But, will this trend persist into the coming week? Maybe not. In the latter half of the week, the Bitcoin price entered a decline, albeit a slight one. From Wednesday, the 27^th, to the close of Saturday, the 30^th, the price fell a total of 1.55%. So, while the overall week was very flat—with the price only increasing by a total of 0.40%—it seems as if a shift in valuations may have occurred in the middle of the week. Therefore, our ceteris paribus forecast for the coming week holds that the Bitcoin price will decline until it reaches a point where individuals begin purchasing coins again. We cannot, however, give a prediction on how deep the decline will be or how long it will last.