Bitcoin consolidates for the sixth consecutive trading session - volatility fell even more over the holiday period as big capital went on vacation.

Nevertheless, on December 25, 2022, "gold bug" Peter Schiff had a Christmas message for bitcoin investors, which he called "a Christmas gift."

Eternal Bitcoin-bear Peter Schiff, one of the harshest critics of the major cryptocurrency, wrote on Twitter:

"My Christmas gift to HODLers is this bitcoin chart. As you can see bitcoin is much closer to its ceiling than its floor. The yellow line that was once support is now resistance. Since the upside potential is so low and downside risk so high, the smart move is to sell today.""Bitcoin does look a bit like #gold did back in 1999. But I doubt Bitcoin will follow the same path. Instead of breaking out, Bitcoin will likely break down. Bitcoin is the anti-gold. Don't misunderstand my gift. My gift is all the money you will save by selling your #Bitcoin today. You can thank me later."

On November 11, 2022, after the collapse of the FTX empire, Schiff recommended that those who can sell their bitcoins do so while they still can.

Bitcoin mania is over

On the same day, Schiff commented further on BTC:

"SEC regulation would not have prevented the #FTX fraud. Bernie Madoff was regulated by the SEC the entire time he ran his #Ponzi Scheme. The free market is the best regulator, except when central banks create financial manias that turn intelligent investors into complete fools."

Schiff recalled that a year ago the major cryptocurrency reached $69,000. One of the main reasons for the impressive rally was the use of all credit funds, which financed unprecedented cryptocurrency advertising and speculative buying. FTX's bankruptcy proves that it was all a scam. It will never happen again. The Bitcoin mania is over.

"The reason Novogratz was able to cash out so much Bitcoin and other crypto related assets was that CNBC gave him and other crypto insiders a one-sided platform to constantly pump exactly what he needed to dump. The whales sold as they suckered the minnows to buy and #HODL."

JPMorgan: Most Institutional investors are "breathing a sigh of relief that they didn't jump into that market"

According to Jared Gross, JP Morgan Asset Management's head of institutional portfolio strategy, large institutional investors are still largely staying away from the cryptocurrency market because the asset class' volatility poses a challenge to money managers.

Gross said on Bloomberg that crypto was nonexistent for most large institutional investors. He attributed their absence of interest due to the high volatility and lack of intrinsic return of cryptocurrencies.

Gross believes that most institutional investors are currently "breathing a sigh of relief that they haven't jumped into this market," which is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

The bear market also put an end to the notion that Bitcoin (BTC) could be a form of digital gold or an inflation hedge, according to Gross, who stated that it is "self-evident" that this is not the case.

Although many institutional portfolios still exclude cryptocurrency, large financial institutions are increasingly embracing it.

BNY Mellon, the oldest American bank, announced in October that it would protect ether and bitcoin for select institutional clients.

In addition, French bank Societe Generale also received regulatory approval as a provider of digital assets services.

According to Cointelegraph, BNY Mellon CEO Robin Vince stated that "client demand" was the "tipping point" behind the launch of institutional-focused crypto services.

According to a recent report from JPMorgan Chase, nearly 43 million Americans, or 13% of the population, have owned crypto assets at some point in their lives. Since before 2020, when it was only around 3%, the figure has risen dramatically.

Will Bitcoin suffer from winter

The Bitcoin network's hash rate returned to normal a few days after low temperatures in the United States caused a strain on the nation's power grid, leading to a temporary drop in hash rate.

The U.S. faced severe freezing temperatures in the days before Christmas. Bitcoin miners in Texas, which accounts for a significant portion of the country's hash rate, reportedly voluntarily shut down operations to get power back on the grid so residents could heat their homes.

The disruptions appear to have put a dent in Bitcoin's hash rate, which typically hovers around 225-300 Exahashes per second (EH/s). This fell to 170.60 EH/s on Dec. 25. As of December 26, however, the hash rate had returned to 241.29 EH/s.

The recent events prompted a controversial statement from FutureBit founder John Stefanop, who suggested the fall in hash rate was due to a number of "highly centralized mines" in Texas turning off at the same time.

"I know, it does not change the fact that a few large mines in Texas affect the entire network to the tune of 33%...everyone's transactions are now being confirmed 30% slower because the hashrate is not decentralized enough," he said.

"If hashrate was distributed evenly around the world by 10's of millions of small miners instead of a few dozen massive mines, this event would not have even registered on the network," Stefanop added.

Bitcoin bull Dan Held however refuted Stefanop's take on the events, arguing that weather patterns do not mean centralized ownership or control.

It's worth noting, however, that the weather events have not yet affected the BTC price, which continues to consolidate in the 15,600 to 17,200 range after a small spike in volatility last week.