LONDON (UK) – With bitcoin seeming to be so flighty, there are some who think of going to the extreme by consulting a crystal ball or seeking signs in the heavens to divine the direction of the cryptocurrency.
Meet Maren Altman is a bitcoin investor and astrologer rolled into one.
This New York resident has been observing the movement of the celestial bodies to predict the price fluctuations of bitcoin since last summer. While many investors may scoff at her methods, she has a one-million strong fan following on TikTok.
The 22-year-old astrologer told her followers last week to watch for a price correction on January 11.
The reason? Saturn was going to cross Mercury. And it did happen.
Bitcoin fell as much as 21% on that day and recovered much of its losses and put the brakes on a meteoric rally that saw it double from early December to a record $42,000 last week.
“I am never going to tell someone to buy this or that,” said Altman. “I can predict price trajectories but do not claim to be a financial adviser aware of someone’s specific circumstances, and therefore never give buy or sell advice.”
For novices, Mercury stands for bitcoin’s price data and Saturn is a restricting indicator.
She is among a growing tribe of young TikTok influencers who started to post content on bitcoin when its prices rallied last year.
It appears they are eager to join the cryptocurrency bandwagon whose ambiguous movements have always left financial experts baffled.
“I’m a bit of a cynic when it comes to bitcoin projections,” said Craig Erlam, an analyst at forex broker OANDA. “I think it’s just a selection of people clutching at straws, trying to justify any reasons to be bullish.”
Since the beginning of last year, bitcoin has jumped over five-fold. Citigroup said bitcoin could hit $318,000, while JPMorgan Chase & Co tipped it to reach $146,000.
But then what do the heavenly bodies predict about the world’s most favourite cryptocurrency?
“I see some favourable indicators at the end of the month and especially February and early March,” said Altman, whose predictions are based on the date of the birth of the coin.
