Is the future of bitcoin safe? A triangulation approach in the reality of BTC market through a sentiments analysis

Abstract

Bitcoin (BTC) prices are fluctuating continuously to the extremes. The Bitcoin market witnessed a crash during the second quarter of 2021 that was purely guided by the investors' sentiments. Are the Bitcoin prices influenced only by market sentiments or do any factors influence them? In this paper, we applied a triangulation approach; mixed-methods research was used in which a qualitative study was complemented by a quantitative method. Both the qualitative and quantitative data of time periods 2016-2021 were examined to find whether the Bitcoin market prices are influenced by market sentiments. For analysing market sentiments, the posts and sentiments from 2016 to 2021 of an internet forum "Bitcointalk" were used. For strengthening the findings of qualitative analysis, we used quantitative data of the BTC market. We also used search data from Google Trends for providing further insights. Our research shows a crossmatch between quantitative trends on Bitcoin market prices and qualitative matrix of sentiments. We have also observed an artificial investment intention in the form of digital nudges playing the field of the Bitcoin market to boost investment.