Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has been locked in a relatively tight trading range of $16,000 to $18,000 for months now, making this crypto much less volatile than it has been in some time. In fact, Bitcoin's 30-day volatility has sunk to June 2020 levels. During one five-day period in early January, Bitcoin was actually less volatile than gold, the NASDAQ, and the S&P 500.

So what's going on here? This statistic could signal a long-term trend of Bitcoin becoming less volatile over time as it becomes more of a mainstream risk asset held by both retail and institutional investors. Or it could be the calm before the storm before Bitcoin explodes in value.

Volatility is just a statistical measure of how much Bitcoin's value fluctuates up and down over time. The higher the volatility, the higher the potential fluctuation. This is true for both the upside and the downside. Thus, Bitcoin's relatively high historical volatility means it is capable of higher highs and lower lows than other assets. In many ways, volatility is the key to understanding what makes Bitcoin so unique as an asset.

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Source Fool.com