[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서)] Bitcoin (BTC) has shown a move back to around $70,000, the peak of the 2019 to 2022 market cycle. That contrasts with the 2014 and 2018 bear markets, when it did not fall back to the previous cycle high.

CoinDesk reported on Tuesday that bitcoin has traded around $70,000 since early February. That is still far below more than $126,000, which has been presented as the peak of the 2023 to 2025 bull market. $70,000 was the all-time high of the 2019 to 2022 cycle, and this bear phase is interpreted as having revisited the previous cycle peak.

In 2022, however, the price fell below $20,000, the 2017 peak, in an exceptional case. It was seen as the result of a combination of crypto fraud and large-scale deleveraging, and was classified as an unusual phenomenon. This pullback is distinguished from that period in that it has fallen to the previous peak within the bear-cycle trend without a clear shock factor.

The magnitude of gains has also slowed compared with the past. The 2013 peak was 38 times the 2011 level, and the 2017 peak was 16 times the 2013 level. The 2021 rise shrank to 3 times the 2017 level, and the 2025 peak of $126,000 was less than double the 2021 peak.

Expanding institutional participation and growth in the derivatives market are also cited as factors amplifying these changes. Traders can bet not only on spot buying and selling but also on volatility, timing and direction, which is assessed as having helped ease extreme volatility. Anchoring bias, in which past highs serve as reference points and buying demand emerges when the price returns to that range, was also presented as a reason the decline stopped near $70,000. If bitcoin rebounds strongly from $70,000, it could also be interpreted as a signal that the decline is ending, as it did near $20,000 in late 2022.

This move, in which bitcoin has returned to the previous cycle high, shows that market maturity and changes in participation structure are also affecting price patterns. Whether $70,000 becomes a long-term support line or remains only a midway point of further declines is expected to be a key variable in this phase.