Bitcoin Flat as Traders Look Forward to the ‘Year of the Dragon’

Bitcoin (BTC) traded flat, hovering over $42,000 early Monday, while the CoinDesk 20 Index CD20 is down 0.75% at 1,643, according to CoinDesk Indices data, as nations in East Asia count down the last working days before the Lunar New Year holiday.

Over the next few days, East Asia will celebrate the start of the year of the dragon, which is considered to be one of the luckiest and most prosperous animals in the Chinese Zodiac.

Last year, CLSA, a Hong Kong-based brokerage firm, predicted in a January note that 2023 will see market fluctuations, attributing a calmer outlook to the Year of the Rabbit while advising investors to venture beyond their comfort zones cautiously. And indeed, the market “hopped” back from its dismal 2022 performance, with bitcoin having jumped nearly 94% over the last year, with ether <a href="http://coindesk.com/price/ethereum/" data-position="autolink" title="Ethereum Price