The Simpsons has been around my whole life. When I was a child, it was one of the best programmes on TV – a legendary cartoon. Sadly, I haven’t watched any of the new episodes for at least 10 years. Despite this, Bart Simpson’s head keeps appearing, but this time in the Bitcoin charts. Much like The Simpsons itself, I wish I didn’t have to see him anymore.
The Bart pattern has become quite famous now. The process usually follows a simple path. The price of Bitcoin shoots up, stays stable for a little while, then comes crashing back down. On the pricing graphs, you can superimpose Bart’s head onto the chart – hence the term ‘Bart pattern’.
Barts are a symptom of market makers now having dominance over short term price. Pushing the price around, farming the stops. A trend that’s grown strong since Q1 2017, and continues to get stronger. Retail traders will gradually leave.
— Willy Woo (@woonomic) February 25, 2019
For many an outsider, such a graph looks extremely artificial. Each time it happens, the big fans of Bitcoin over at r/buttcoin will often chirp up. And who can blame them, really? The pattern has happened numerous times over the past couple of years and doesn’t make for nice viewing. This isn’t the only pattern often seen in cryptocurrency charts. There are more severe pump and dump charts that are even worse.
Reasons for the patterns are still debated. Some argue that trading algorithms are the cause of such patterns, whereas Willy Woo expressed his opinion above. With many of the cryptocurrency markets still being relatively illiquid compared with traditional markets, there is certain room for manipulation. There is a hope that once or if Bitcoin achieves greater notoriety, such instances will be greatly reduced.
One positive point from this Bart pattern is that not all hope is lost. Bitcoin did bounce off the support level, so there is a chance it could move back up again. This is not to say that the bear market is over though, not by any stretch of the imagination. As for now, don’t have a cow, man.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.